Characterization of the interferon-α response of pigs to the weaning stress.

The interferon (IFN)-α response of pigs to the stressing event of early weaning was investigated in a field trial. All the animals under study remained healthy and tested negative for common viral infections. However, a low-titered IFN-α response was detected in many sera by a bioassay on Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells on day +6 after weaning.

Comparative evaluation of PRRS virus infection in vaccinated and naïve pigs.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the time-course of the immune response to a field Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome virus (PRRSV) strain in PRRS-naïve, untreated pigs, as well as in four groups of age and breed-matched pigs injected with a live attenuated PRRS vaccine, its adjuvant, an inactivated PRRS vaccine and an irrelevant, inactivated Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccine, respectively. PRRSV infection was confirmed in all groups by PCR and antibody assays. The antibody response measured by ELISA took place earlier in pigs injected with the live attenuated vaccine, which also developed a much stronger serum-neutralizing antibody response to the vaccine strain.

An alternative method to isoenzyme profile for cell line identification and interspecies cross-contaminations: cytochrome b PCR-RLFP analysis.

One of the major risks in cell culture laboratories is the misidentification and cross-contamination of cell lines. Several methods have been used to authenticate cell lines, including isoenzyme profiling, the test suggested by European Farmacopeia, which is performed at the Tissue Culture Centre in Brescia. However, this method displays several disadvantages, such as high variability and low reproducibility, and it is time consuming and requires high cell concentrations to be performed.