Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for immunoglobulin G antibody to Pasteurella multocida in rabbits

Three antigen preparations of Pasteurella multocida, lipopolysaccharide antigen, boiled-cell extract antigen, and boiled whole-bacterium antigen, were used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect rabbit immunoglobulin G antibody to P. multocida. The sensitivity of each antigen preparation was compared by using sera from P. multocida-infected and uninfected rabbits and sera from two rabbits immunized with different serotypes of P. multocida. In the ELISA, all three antigen preparations detected high titers of antibodies in infected rabbits and markedly lower levels in uninfected rabbits. When whole-bacterium or boiled-cell extract antigens were used, the ELISA detected antibodies in sera from both immunized rabbits, but with lipopolysaccharide antigen, only antibody to the homologous serotype was detected. Sera absorbed with P. multocida and Bordetella bronchiseptica, another respiratory pathogen of rabbits, revealed that antibodies detected in the ELISA did not cross-react. Since the lipopolysaccharide antigen was more difficult to prepare and may be type specific, and since the whole-bacterium antigen was the least sensitive, the boiled-cell extract was chosen as the best antigen preparation to use in the ELISA.