• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.490-494
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• 2004

An efficacy test of PRP (polyribosylribitol phosphate)-TT (Tetanus toxoid) conjugate vaccines was carried out using BALB/c mice as an animal model by inoculating Haemophilus in­fluenzae type b (Hib) with a virulence enhancement factor (VEF). Three administrations of the conjugate vaccines at 2-week intervals elicited a significantly high level of PRP antibodies (P>0.0001). The protective activity of the PRP immunization was challenged with either Hib with iron dextran (Hib/) or with a combination of mucin and hemoglobin (Hibmh) as a VEF. The me­dium lethal dose $(LD_{50})$ for Hibmh and Hibiwas measured as 10 CFU (Colony Forming Unit) and $2.5{\times}10^{8}$ CFU respectively. Each immunized animal was challenged with five or ten times the $LD_{50}$ level of bacteria with a VEF. A significant difference in mortality between the immunized and control mice (P> 0.01) was observed with the Hibmh challenge inoculation but not with the Hibi challenge inoculation. These results show that a combination of mucin and hemoglobin was able to enhance the virulence of Hib in BALB/c mice to cause a lethal infection, thus suggesting that BALB/c mice introduced to this method can be an effective model animal for testing the protective efficacy of H. influenzae conjugate vaccines.