Comparative analysis of immune responses in cattle vaccinated with Brucella abortus strain 19 or strain RB51

Immune responses were measured for 12 weeks following vaccination of cattle with either Brucella abortus strain (S) 19 or SRB51. Cattle vaccinated with S19, but not with SRB51, produced antibodies that agglutinated B. abortus S1119 in the standard tube agglutination test. Cattle vaccinated with S19 or SRB51 produced antibodies to the surface antigens of SRB51 when measured by a dot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Superficial cervical lymph node (LN) cells obtained by biopsy at 10 and 12 weeks from cattle given the S19 or SRB51 vaccine exhibited similar proliferative responses when incubated in vitro with gamma-irradiated B. abortus S2308. At 10 and 12 weeks after vaccination, LN cells obtained from cattle given S19 or SRB51 proliferated to 22 protein fractions (106-18 kDa proteins) of B. abortus S2308 that were isolated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Twelve of the same 22 fractions, which contained 49-27 kDa proteins, produced a stimulation index of greater than 10 when incubated with LN cells taken from S19-vaccinated or SRB51-vaccinated cattle. Two factions, which contained 27 kDa proteins of S2308, induced the highest proliferative response (stimulation index 25 or greater) by LN cells in cattle given either S19 or SRB51. These results suggest that cattle vaccinated with S19 or SRB51 have similar LN immune responses to S2308, but unlike S19, SRB51 does not induce positive results in the standard tube agglutination test used to diagnose brucellosis in cattle.