RT Journal Article
T1 Outer Membrane Proteins as Vaccine Targets Against Lawsonia intracellularis in Piglets
A1 Aves, Kara L.
A1 Fresno Herrero, Ana
A1 Nisar, Sajid
A1 Saraiva, Mauro M.
A1 Goecke, Nicole B.
A1 Sander, Adam F.
A1 Nielsen, Morten A.
A1 Olsen, John E.
A1 Guerra, Priscila R.
K1 Antigen
K1 Diarrhea
K1 Enteropathy
K1 MBP.INVASc
K1 OMP2
K1 Pigs
K1 Virus-like particle
AB Background: Lawsonia intracellularis (LI) is the agent of proliferative enteropathy in swine, a common disease that affects pigs for up to eight weeks after weaning. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of two novel subunit vaccines targeting outer membrane proteins on LI. Methods: The two vaccines included OMP2c.cVLP, where the OMP2c antigen was anchored on the surface of capsid virus-like particles (cVLP); and MBP.INVASc, where antigens were anchored to an MBP fusion protein. Groups of six mice, as proof of concept, and six piglets were immunized with either OMP2c.cVLP, MBP.INVASc., or PBS as a control using a prime-boost regime. Results: Both OMP2c.cVLP and MBP.INVASc subunit vaccines induced strong antigen-specific serum IgG and IgA responses. There were no significant differences in weight gain among the groups. Mild-to-moderate clinical signs of LI infection were observed, but vaccinated groups showed lower inflammatory scores and fewer animals tested positive for bacteria by immunohistochemistry. Although neither vaccine completely prevented clinical signs of LI infection, both effectively reduced inflammation and lowered the pathogen load, thereby mitigating the severity of the disease, particularly the MBP.INVASc vaccine. Conclusions: These findings suggest that both vaccines have the potential for further development and optimization to enhance their protective efficacy against LI infections.
PB MDPI
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/45852
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/45852
LA eng
NO Aves, K. L., Fresno, A. H., Nisar, S., Saraiva, M. M., Goecke, N. B., Sander, A. F., Nielsen, M. A., Olsen, J. E., & Guerra, P. R. (2025). Outer Membrane Proteins as Vaccine Targets Against Lawsonia intracellularis in Piglets. Vaccines, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/VACCINES13020207
NO This research was funded by Innovation Fund Denmark, grant number 8088-00032B.
DS Minerva
RD 23 may 2026