Development of preventive method for enterotoxigenic colibacillosis using egg yolk antibodies I. Imune responses of hens immunized against combined Escherichia coli pilus antigens and heat labile toxin

난황항체를 이용한 돼지 대장균 설사증 방제기법 개발 I. 대장균 pilus 항원과 LT로 면역시킨 닭의 면역반응

Immunogenicity of Escherichia coli pilus and LT were evaluated in 20-week-old hens. The antigens were consisted of K88, K99, 987p pilus and heat labile toxin purified from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. The durations of antibody titers in sera and egg yolk were investigated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). After first inoculation, antibody titers in sera reached at peak 2 weeks postinoculation. However, peak antibody titers in egg yolk were detected 4 weeks postinoculation, indicating that transfer of immunoglobulin from serum to egg yolk took about two weeks period. Although there were slight reduction in titers, the specific antibodies in egg yolk lasted up to 3 months. Immune responses against monovalent and combined antigens were showed as almost same patterns. The transfer rate of antibodies from serum to egg yolk didn't show any significant differences among three pilus antigens in this study. Considering the concentrations of antigens in each inoculated group, multivalent antigens containing heat labile toxin of E coli were found to be more immunogenic than monovalent antigen in producing specific antibodies. From this experiment, it was demonstrated that multivalent antigens containing three pilus and heat labile toxin could be a promising candidate for the production of egg yolk antibodies for prophylactic use in preventing swine colibacillosis in future.