Comparison of the protective efficacy of recombinant adenoviruses against classical swine fever

Abstract

Classical swine fever (CSF), which is caused by classical swine fever virus (CSFV), is a highly contagious and often fatal swine disease that is responsible for significant losses to the swine industry worldwide. Previously, we demonstrated that pigs immunized with a recombinant adenovirus (rAdV-E2) expressing the E2 glycoprotein of CSFV were protected against virulent CSFV; however, a few pigs showed a short-term fever and occasional pathological changes. To enhance the efficacy of the vaccine, we constructed two recombinant adenoviruses, namely, rAdV-E2UL49, which encodes the CSFV E2 gene fused with the UL49 gene from pseudorabies virus (PRV), and rAdV-optiE2, which expresses the codon-optimized CSFV E2 gene. With these viruses, we performed a comparative immunogenicity trial in rabbits and pigs and compared these recombinant adenovirus vaccines (rAdV-E2UL49 and rAdV-optiE2) with the one containing the wild-type E2 gene (rAdV-E2). In terms of antibody titers, IFN-γ production, lymphocyte proliferation, viral loads and clinical protection from the disease, rAdV-E2UL49 was more immunogenic and protective against C-strain CSFV in rabbits and Shimen strain CSFV in pigs than rAdV-optiE2 and rAdV-E2. Data from this study could assist in making decisions for further development of recombinant adenoviruses as vaccine candidates against CSF.