Abstract
Equine arteritis virus (EAV) has the ability to establish persistent infection in the reproductive tract of the stallion (carrier) and is continuously shed in its semen. We have recently demonstrated that EAV persists within stromal cells and a subset of lymphocytes in the stallion accessory sex glands in the presence of a significant local inflammatory response. In the present study, we demonstrated that EAV elicits a mucosal antibody response in the reproductive tract during persistent infection with homing of plasma cells into accessory sex glands. The EAV-specific immunoglobulin isotypes in seminal plasma included IgA, IgG1, IgG3/5, and IgG4/7. Interestingly, seminal plasma IgG1 and IgG4/7 possessed virus-neutralizing activity, while seminal plasma IgA and IgG3/5 did not. However, virus-neutralizing IgG1 and IgG4/7 in seminal plasma were not effective in preventing viral infectivity. In addition, the serological response was primarily mediated by virus-specific IgM and IgG1, while virus-specific serum IgA, IgG3/5, IgG4/7, and IgG6 isotype responses were not detected. This is the first report characterizing the immunoglobulin isotypes in equine serum and seminal plasma in response to EAV infection. The findings presented herein suggest that while a broader immunoglobulin isotype diversity is elicited in seminal plasma, EAV has the ability to persist in the reproductive tract, in spite of local mucosal antibody and inflammatory responses. This study provides further evidence that EAV employs complex immune evasion mechanisms during persistence in the reproductive tract that warrant further investigation.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2017
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1128/CVI.00215-17
Funding Information
This study was fully supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grant no. 2013-68004-20360 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Repository Citation
Carossino, Mariano; Wagner, Bettina; Loynachan, Alan T.; Cook, R. Frank; Canisso, Igor F.; Chelvarajan, Lakshman; Edwards, Casey L.; Nam, Bora; Timoney, John F.; Timoney, Peter J.; and Balasuriya, Udeni B. R., "Equine Arteritis Virus Elicits a Mucosal Antibody Response in the Reproductive Tract of Persistently Infected Stallions" (2017). Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center Faculty Publications. 18.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gerc_facpub/18
Included in
Large or Food Animal and Equine Medicine Commons, Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology Commons
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, v. 24, issue 10, e00215-17, p. 1-18.
Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
The copyright holder has granted the permission for posting the article here.