Immunization Trials with Recombinant Major Sperm Protein of the Bovine Lungworm .

The lungworm is one of the most economically important bovine parasites in temperate climate regions. Following infection, induces a temporary protective immunity, and a vaccine based on attenuated, infective larvae is commercially available. However, due to several disadvantages of the live vaccine, the development of a recombinant subunit vaccine is highly desirable.

Development and evaluation of a recombinant antigen-based ELISA for serodiagnosis of cattle lungworm.

An optimised enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of Dictyocaulus viviparous-specific antibodies was developed and evaluated following the testing of various microtitration plates and anti-bovine Ig-conjugates. Based on recombinant major sperm protein (MSP) expressed as a glutathione-S-transferase (GST) fusion protein in Escherichia coli, sera collected from 112 cattle experimentally infected with D. viviparus, from 129 helminth-naïve calves, 8 calves experimentally infected with Ostertagia ostertagi, and 2 calves infected with Cooperia oncophora were tested.