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. 2002 Jun 11:2:10.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-2-10.

Kinetics of maternal immunity against rabies in fox cubs (Vulpes vulpes)

Thomas Müller  1 , Thomas Selhorst, Peter Schuster, Ad Vos, Ulf Wenzel, Andreas Neubert
Affiliations

Kinetics of maternal immunity against rabies in fox cubs (Vulpes vulpes)

Thomas Müller et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: In previous experiments, it was demonstrated that maternal antibodies (maAb) against rabies in foxes (Vulpes vulpes) were transferred from the vixen to her offspring. However, data was lacking from cubs during the first three weeks post partum. Therefore, this complementary study was initiated.

Methods: Blood samples (n = 281) were collected from 64 cubs (3 to 43 days old) whelped by 19 rabies-immune captive-bred vixens. Sera was collected up to six times from each cub. The samples were analysed by a fluorescence focus inhibition technique (RFFIT), and antibody titres (nAb) were expressed in IU/ml. The obtained data was pooled with previous data sets. Subsequently, a total of 499 serum samples from 249 cubs whelped by 54 rabies-immune vixens were fitted to a non-linear regression model.

Results: The disappearance rate of maAb was independent of the vixens' nAb-titre. The maAb-titre of the cubs decreased exponentially with age and the half-life of the maAb was estimated to be 9.34 days. However, maAb of offspring whelped by vixens with high nAb-titres can be detected for longer in RFFIT than that of offspring whelped by vixens with relatively low nAb-titres. At a mean critical age of about 23 days post partum, maAb could no longer be distinguished from unspecific reactions in RFFIT depending on the amount of maAb transferred by the mother.

Conclusions: The amount of maAb cubs receive is directly proportional to the titre of the vixen and decreases exponentially with age below detectable levels in seroneutralisation tests at a relatively early age.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Individual maternal antibody (maAb) titre (n = 282) of the 64 fox cubs born to vaccinated vixens during the experimental study conducted in 2000.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Maternal antibody (maAb) titres (n= 499) of the combined data sets of the years 1998–2000 together with the linear regression line indicating the overall trend in the development of log(maAb) of cubs with age [days].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Non-linear regression model fitted to the combined data set (1998–2000) showing the maternal antibody (maAb) titre of cubs in dependency on the neutralizing antibody (nAb) titre of the mother animal (VT) and the age of the cubs (days).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relation between the neutralizing antibody titre (nAb) of the vixen and the time (age) when maAb of cubs disappear (<0.5 IU/ml) in RFFIT.
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