U Methner

Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

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Publications (30)31.91 Total impact

  • Article: Emergency and therapeutic vaccination--is stimulating innate immunity an option?
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    ABSTRACT: There is increasing evidence that activation of innate immunity, in animals and man, by live vaccines, sub-unit vaccines or synthetic or non-synthetic stimulants can induce a profound and rapidly induced resistance to pathogens, including infectious agents that are unrelated to the stimulating antigen or agent. We review the evidence for this phenomenon and present the proposition that this approach might be used to stimulate immunity during the life of the animal when susceptibility to infection is high and when normal vaccination procedures may be inappropriate.
    Research in Veterinary Science 10/2011; 93(1):7-12. · 1.65 Impact Factor
  • Article: Exploitation of intestinal colonization-inhibition between salmonella organisms for live vaccines in poultry: potential and limitations.
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    ABSTRACT: Immunization represents one of the most important methods to increase the resistance of chickens against Salmonella infection. In addition to the development of an adaptive immune response, oral administration of live Salmonella strains to day-old chicks provides protection against infection within hours by intestinal colonization-inhibition. For the exploitation of this phenomenon, practical information on colonization-inhibition between Salmonella organisms is needed. Colonization-inhibition capacity between Salmonella strains from serogroups B, C1, C2, D and G was assessed in chickens. The most profound level of intestinal colonization-inhibition occurred between isogenic strains. Inhibition between strains of the same serovar was greater than that between strains of different serovars. The degree of inhibition between different serovars was not sufficiently high to identify a single strain which might inhibit a wide range of other Salmonella organisms. However, as Salmonella Enteritidis is the dominant serovar in poultry in many countries and because of the profound colonization-inhibition within this serovar there is a considerable potential to exploit this phenomenon in the development of novel live S. Enteritidis vaccines. Treatment of young chicks with mixtures of different Salmonella serovars resulted not only in a very strong growth inhibition of the isogenic strains but also in a substantial inhibition of heterologous serovars. The potential of mixtures of heterologous Salmonella strains as a 'Salmonella Inhibition Culture' and as a 'live Salmonella vaccine' should be further explored.
    Zoonoses and Public Health 04/2011; 58(8):540-8. · 1.89 Impact Factor
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    Article: Vaccination and early protection against non-host-specific Salmonella serotypes in poultry: exploitation of innate immunity and microbial activity.
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    ABSTRACT: A recent European Union Directive required member states to put monitoring and control programmes in place, of which vaccination is a central component. Live Salmonella vaccines generally confer better protection than killed vaccines, because the former stimulate both cell-mediated and humoral immunity. Administering Salmonella bacteria orally to newly hatched chickens results in extensive gut colonization and a strong adaptive immune stimulus but broiler chickens are immunologically immature. However, colonization exerts a variety of rapid (within 24 h) protective effects. These include specific colonization-inhibition (competitive exclusion) in which the protective bacteria exert a profound resistance to establishment and colonization by other related bacteria. This is thought to be primarily a metabolic attribute of the vaccinating bacteria but may also involve competition for attachment sites. The presence of large numbers of bacteria originating from a live Salmonella vaccine in the intestine can also induce infiltration of polymorphonuclear cells into the intestinal wall, which confers resistance to invasion and systemic spread by virulent Salmonella strains. This opens new perspectives for vaccine usage in broilers, layers and breeding poultry but also in other animals which show increased susceptibility to infection because of their young age or for other reasons, such as oral chemoprophylaxis or chemotherapy, where the lack of established normal gut flora is an issue. We recommend that all live vaccines considered for oral administration should be tested for their ability to induce the two protective effects described above. Further developments in live Salmonella vaccines are, however, currently hindered by fears associated with the use and release of live vaccines which may be genetically modified.
    Epidemiology and Infection 01/2006; 133(6):959-78. · 2.84 Impact Factor
  • Article: Intestinal colonisation-inhibition and virulence of Salmonella phoP, rpoS and ompC deletion mutants in chickens.
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    ABSTRACT: Administration of live Salmonella strains to day-old chicks provides profound protection against superinfection with a related strain within a matter of hours by a colonisation-inhibition mechanism, which is primarily a bacterial physiological process. Although currently available, commercial, live attenuated Salmonella vaccines induce protection by adaptive immunity, none of them is able to induce protection against Salmonella organisms by colonisation-inhibition and, therefore, they are unable to protect newly-hatched birds immediately after oral vaccination. In this study, mutants of Salmonella Typhimurium and Enteritidis with deletions in phoP and rpoS, either alone or in combination with ompC, were characterised and tested for their level of attenuation and their ability to inhibit the intestinal colonisation of the isogenic parent strains in chickens. Mutants with deletions only in rpoS demonstrated an unaffected potential to inhibit the intestinal colonisation of the challenge strain but were still fully virulent for the chickens. Mutants with deletions in phoP, either alone or in combination with rpoS, resulted in a high level of attenuation, unimpaired ability to colonise the gut and a nearly unaffected potential to inhibit the challenge strain from caecal colonisation. Mutants with an additional deletion in ompC revealed a reduced capacity of intestinal colonisation-inhibition when compared to the control strains and both the single rpoS and the phoP deletion mutants. Mutations in phoP- or phoP-regulated genes may therefore be used for the development of live attenuated Salmonella vaccines possessing these novel characteristics.
    Veterinary Microbiology 02/2004; 98(1):37-43. · 3.33 Impact Factor
  • Article: [The detection of Salmonella typhimurium varatio copenhagen DT 2 in purebred pigeons].
    U Methner, L Lauterbach
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    ABSTRACT: On the occasion of a large exhibition of pure-breed fancy pigeons 398 animals from 49 different dovecotes were examined for Salmonella shedding. Faecal samples were taken after caging of the birds for the exhibition and after 3 days, before the end of the exhibition. Salmonella were detected in faeces of 28 out of 398 pigeons (7.04%). 10 birds were Salmonella positive only after caging for the exhibition, 10 other animals only before the end of the exhibition, and 8 pigeons at both occasions. The Salmonella positive birds originated from 15 different dovecotes, i.e. in ca. 30% of the dovecotes at the exhibition at least 1 Salmonella positive pigeon was identified. The share of positive birds in these dovecotes varied between 5% and 83%. All Salmonella isolates belonged to the serovar Typhimurium variant copenhagen and were of phage type DT 2. The results of this study do not provide complete evidence on the spreading of Salmonella organisms from birds infected at time of caging to other pigeons during the exhibition, however, such transmission cannot be excluded. In only 18 dovecotes pigeons were immunised against Salmonella Typhimurium. However, in these dovecotes all breeder birds but only 13% of the young pigeons had been immunised. Among the vaccinated breeder pigeons the number of Salmonella positive birds was considerably lower (not significant) than among the non-vaccinated breeders. There is epidemiological evidence that vaccination of pigeons has a considerable protective effect against Salmonella exposure. However, in order to effectively reduce Salmonella findings in pure-breed fancy pigeons it is recommended to provide vaccination to pigeons in a greater number of dovecotes and to include the progeny, too.
    DTW. Deutsche tierärztliche Wochenschrift 07/2003; 110(6):239-44. · 0.41 Impact Factor
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    Article: Estimating the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in swine herds--influence of sensitivity and specificity of Salmonella detection.
    G Steinbach, T Blaha, U Methner
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    ABSTRACT: Information about the proportion of truly Salmonella-free herds is required for an evaluation of the epidemiological situation, the development of control strategies and their implementation. Findings regarding the presence of salmonellas in faeces and intestinal lymph nodes as well as the presence of Salmonella antibodies in meat juice from slaughtered pigs were obtained in the context of a study conducted by a number of institutes. These data were used for an analysis of the validity of data on the prevalence of infected animals within herds and on the prevalence of infected herds. The proportion of batches or herds with exclusively negative individual findings was found to depend not only on the true proportion of truly Salmonella-free animals within herds but quite essentially also on the distribution of the proportion of infected animals within herds, the sensitivity of the methods of examination and sample sizes. When taking into account the existing dependencies, it was found that among the swine, the real numbers of Salmonella carriers were much higher than shown by bacteriological and serological examination. Regarding salmonellosis in swine, also a number of contaminated herds must be expected which is far higher than that shown by the number of herds with positive findings in at least one animal. Even a low contamination of all or almost all herds would result in the numbers of 'negative' batches observed, i.e. batches with exclusively negative individual findings. A rating of the salmonella exposure of herds as high, low, or very low is possible and may, and should be, used for measures of consumer protection, irrespective of the proportion of truly Salmonella-free herds.
    Journal of Veterinary Medicine Series B 12/2002; 49(9):438-44. · 1.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Specificity of inhibition between Salmonella strains].
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    ABSTRACT: A phenomenon of inhibition among Salmonella organisms colonizing the gut of young animals can be demonstrated which is important in connection with immunization using live Salmonella vaccines. For practical utilization of this inhibition phenomenon, research into its specificity is very important. In vitro broth culture and animal experiments have shown inhibition to be genus-specific, i.e. there is no inhibition between strains of different genera of Enterobacteriaceae in most cases. The strongest inhibition occurs between isogenic (identical genotype) strains (strain-specific inhibition). This applies to Salmonella and other genera of Enterobacteriaceae. There was a close correlation between the degree of the inhibitory effect and the genetic relatedness of the strains, as has been demonstrated in Salmonella strains of different epidemiological classification. The inhibitory capacity was most pronounced among closely related strains. Clonal strains of Salmonella Enteritidis phage type 4 fully inhibited caecal colonization by Salmonella Enteritidis phage type 4 strains in 65% of the combinations tested in chicks. In broth culture experiments, the share of combinations with complete inhibition was above 90%. A significant inhibitory competence of a selected strongly inhibitory Salmonella Enteritidis phage type 4 strain against the majority of Salmonella Enteritidis field isolates can be expected. However, Salmonella Enteritidis strains of all phase types showed almost no inhibitory competence against other Salmonella serotypes.
    DTW. Deutsche tierärztliche Wochenschrift 05/2002; 109(4):154-7. · 0.41 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Will the effectiveness of the immunization of chicks with live Salmonella vaccines be affected by maternal antibodies?].
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    ABSTRACT: In the progeny of breeder birds which had been vaccinated with live Salmonella Typhimurium and inactivated Salmonella Enteritidis vaccines, the caecal and systemic colonisation by a live Salmonella Enteritidis and a live Salmonella Typhimurium vaccine was studied. The efficacy of the oral immunisation of chicks from vaccinated and non-vaccinated breeders with a live Salmonella Enteritidis vaccine on day 1 of age was studied by an experimental challenge with Salmonella Enteritidis on day 30 of age. Antibody production of isotypes IgG, IgA and IgM was determined in sera and jejunum of the birds. Vaccination of parent birds resulted in an increase of the antibody concentration in sera and jejunum of the chicks. Own antibody production after administration of the live Salmonella vaccine to the day-old chicks was not detected until day 21 of life. Compared to controls, the number of vaccine organisms in the caeca of the progeny of vaccinated breeder birds was reduced by 0.5-1.5 log10 units. The reduction of the Salmonella Enteritidis vaccine was more pronounced than that of the Salmonella Typhimurium vaccine. However, the reduced colonisation by the live Salmonella vaccine strain did not impair the efficacy of the immunisation of the chicks. To ensure efficacy of the active oral immunisation of chicks from vaccinated parent birds with attenuated live Salmonella vaccines also in case where amounts of maternally transferred antibodies are even higher, it should be guaranteed that chicks take in via drinking water the recommended dose of the vaccine strain. In this connection, factors like the low intake of drinking water by very young chicks, the concentration of the vaccine organisms in the water and the survival of the vaccine should also be considered.
    DTW. Deutsche tierärztliche Wochenschrift 05/2002; 109(4):149-53. · 0.41 Impact Factor
  • Article: The use of animal models in the development of classical vaccines.
    U Methner
    Contributions to microbiology 02/2001; 9:58-70.
  • Article: Gamma/delta T cell response of chickens after oral administration of attenuated and non-attenuated Salmonella typhimurium strains.
    A Berndt, U Methner
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    ABSTRACT: Poultry represents an important source of Salmonella infection in man. Despite intensive research on immunity, little is known about the involvement of T cell sub-populations in the immunological response of chickens against infection with non-host-adapted Salmonella (S.) serovars. In this study, the T cell composition of blood lymphocytes (CD4(+)CD8(+); CD4(+)CD8(-); CD4(-)CD8(+); CD8(+)TcR1(+); CD8(-)TcR1(+), CD8(+)TcR1(-)) after oral administration of the non-attenuated S. typhimurium wild-type strain 421 (infection) or the attenuated vaccine strain Salmonella vac((R)) T (immunization) to day-old chicks was investigated and compared with non-treated chickens by flow cytofluorometry. Additionally, the occurrence of T cell sub-populations (CD4(+); CD8(+); TcR1(+)(gammadelta); TcR2(+)(alphabeta(1))) in ceca, spleen and bursa of Fabricius of the birds was studied immunohistologically. Blood samples and tissues were examined between days 1 and 12 of age. Chicks inoculated with S. typhimurium 421 or Salmonella vac((R)) T showed significantly elevated percentages of CD8(+)TcR1(+) in blood on days 7, 8 and 9, or on day 8 in comparison to control animals. The CD4 to CD8 cell ratio was about 3:1 in infected animals on day 5 of age. In the organs of treated chicks the numbers of CD8(+)(gammadelta) and TcR1(+)(gammadelta) cells had markedly increased on days 4 and 5 in ceca, 8 and 9 in the bursa and 9 and 12 in the spleen. Moreover, infected or vaccinated birds revealed larger quantities of CD4(+) and TcR2(+) T cells in ceca on days 4 and 5. As shown by double staining, the TcR1(+) cells in the organs of infected animals additionally carried the CD8 antigen. In conclusion, immunization of day-old chicks with the attenuated Salmonella live vaccine strain resulted in the same changes in T cell composition as seen after infection with the non-attenuated Salmonella wild-type strain, but at a lower level. The remarkable increase of CD8(+)TcR1(+)(gammadelta) double positive cells in treated birds indicates an important role of this cell sub-population in the immunological defense of chickens against Salmonella exposure.
    Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 02/2001; 78(2):143-61. · 2.08 Impact Factor
  • Article: Studies of the phenomenon of host adaptation in Salmonella.
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    ABSTRACT: To study the phenomenon of host adaptation in Salmonella, a mathematical model has been developed which permits a definition and experimental investigation of the specific interaction between the adapted serovar and the adequate host. After experimental infection using a mixture of equal parts of two Salmonella strains, A and B, the bacterial concentrations CA and CB were determined in the organs of the animals infected. If an animal of species a and an animal of species b are infected with the same mixture of strain A adapted to a and strain B adapted to b, an expression: log10Qab = log10CaA + log10CbB - log10CaB - log10CbA may be calculated which describes the influence of the specific serovar-host interaction on the dynamics of the bacterial count. The variable Qab was determined using four Salmonella dublin, four Salmonella choleraesuis and five Salmonella gallinarum/pullorum strains in a total of 63 pairs of different hosts (calf and pig, calf and chicken, or pig and chicken). On this basis, the following statements can be made. The epidemiologically defined host adaptation of Salmonellas is accompanied by a specific agent-host interaction between the adapted serovar and adequate host. It promotes adherence and spreading of the agent in the adequate host. The effect was particularly expressed on day 3 post-infection and could be detected both in the lumen of the anterior sections of the intestine and in the intestinal lymph nodes and the liver. In part, the host-independent strain characteristics had a greater influence than the specific serovar-host interaction on the dynamics of the bacterial count. Strains of non-adapted serovars may thus result in a more intense colonization and invasion of the host than simultaneously administered bacteria of a serovar which is adapted to the respective host. The effects of a specific serovar-host interaction on colonization of and spreading in the host should be considered only as a component which contributes to the phenomenon of host adaptation.
    Journal of Veterinary Medicine Series B 12/2000; 47(9):707-19. · 1.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Administration of autochthonous intestinal microflora--a method to prevent Salmonella infections in poultry].
    U Methner
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    ABSTRACT: Administration of autochthonous intestinal microflora to chicks during the early period after hatching (Competitive Exclusion) is a widely accepted prophylactic method to control Salmonella infections in poultry. The method of competitive exclusion consists in an administration of intestinal flora from healthy adult birds to chicks during the first hours or days of their life. Use of competitive exclusion cultures will considerably enhance resistance to all Salmonella serovars colonising the chicken intestine and reduce shedding of salmonellas by infected animals. However, sole use of this method does not completely prevent Salmonella colonisation of the animals nor elimination of the agents from poultry flocks. At present, only complex competitive exclusion cultures whose composition has not been defined are capable of inducing an adequately high and reproducible efficacy. Effective preparations with a defined composition have not yet been developed because knowledge of the mechanisms of action of the competitive exclusion cultures as well as the effective species of the various bacterial genera is still inadequate. Since in approval procedures, the competitive exclusion cultures with a non-defined composition can neither be classified as medicines nor feed additives nor vaccines, WHO has proposed to establish the product category "Normal Gut Flora" (WHO, 1994). Basic prerequisites for an effective reduction of non-host-adapted Salmonella serovars in, or their elimination from poultry flocks are the performance and assurance of effective hygienic measures. Like the methods of immunisation using live or inactivated Salmonella vaccines in poultry, the method of competitive exclusion constitutes an additional prophylactic method that may be applied directly in the animal to enhance its resistance to Salmonella infection.
    DTW. Deutsche tierärztliche Wochenschrift 11/2000; 107(10):402-8. · 0.41 Impact Factor
  • Article: Monoclonal antibodies against porcine macrophages.
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    ABSTRACT: Two mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAB) (clones 2G6 and 2B10) directed against porcine macrophages are described that are suitable for use in immunohistochemistry, FACS analysis and western blot. As immunogen, porcine cells from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were used. The MABs obtained belonged to the mouse IgG1 subclass. The molecular weights of the corresponding antigens were detected by western blot under non-reducing conditions (2G6: 140-150kDa; 2B10: 140-145kDa). For specificity screening, porcine snap-frozen tissues of lung, lung lymph node, tonsil, spleen, thymus, brain, liver, gut and kidney were used. The MABs were able to identify cell populations of the mononuclear phagocytic system in these organs. While MAB 2G6 detected tissue macrophages (sinusoidal lymph node macrophages, red pulp spleen macrophages, Kupffer cells, Langerhans cells, thymus macrophages, macrophages of lung and macrophages of kidney), MAB 2B10 stained cells scattered in the lymph node (subsinusoidal, interfollicular and follicular macrophages) and in the lung interstitium. Additionally, it showed reactivity with Kupffer cells, spleen and kidney macrophages. An immunoreactivity of the MABs could be established also for human but not for bovine and avian macrophages. By flow cytometric analysis, MAB 2B10 reacted with a subpopulation of BAL and peritoneal cells. Antibody 2G6 detected macrophages of the BAL and the peritoneal fluid as well as peripheral blood monocytes.
    Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 06/2000; 74(3-4):163-77. · 2.08 Impact Factor
  • Article: Combination of vaccination and competitive exclusion to prevent Salmonella colonization in chickens: experimental studies.
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    ABSTRACT: Vaccination and competitive exclusion (CE) represent accepted prophylactic measures to control Salmonella infections in chickens. To use the advantages of both the CE technique and vaccination with live Salmonella vaccines the combination of these methods was studied. In three experiments, SPF chickens were pre-treated using combined or unique administration of CE and vaccination with a live Salmonella typhimurium strain on days 1 and 2 of life and challenged with the antibiotic resistant, but otherwise isogenic mutant of this Salmonella typhimurium strain on days 3, 15 or 40 of life. The caecal colonization of both the vaccine and the challenge strain and the antibody response after infection were examined to evaluate the protective effects of the different combinations. The exclusion effect of CE cultures against Salmonella infection could be seen in very young chicks and was still considerable on day 40 of life of the birds. The Salmonella wild-type strain used as vaccine alone also resulted in a substantial protective effect against homologous challenge. The combined administration of competitive exclusion and immunization using the Salmonella wild-type strain as vaccine resulted in a considerable additional protective effect above the level of the respective exclusive application of these prophylactic measures. Administration of the Salmonella vaccine strain prior to or simultaneously with the CE culture produced the best protective effect, because such combinations ensure an adequate persistence of the vaccine strain as prerequisite for the expression of colonization inhibition effects and a strong immune response. The full exploitation of this potential using attenuated live Salmonella vaccines will require the presence of high inhibitory and immunogenic properties in the vaccine strain after attenuation of a selected parent strain. The combination of competitive exclusion and vaccination as a new measure in integrated control programmes against Salmonella infection in poultry could result in a considerable increase of protection in both very young and older chickens.
    International Journal of Food Microbiology 09/1999; 49(1-2):35-42. · 3.33 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Efficacy of maternal Salmonella antibodies and experimental oral infection of chicks with Salmonella enteritidis].
    U Methner, G Steinbach
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    ABSTRACT: Distribution of maternally transmitted Salmonella antibodies and their protective effects were studied in the progeny of broiler breeder birds which had been vaccinated with live S. Typhimurium and inactivated S. Enteritidis vaccines. Vaccination resulted in a significant increase of the antibody concentration in yolk of hatching eggs and in serum and jejunum of the progeny of immunized breeder birds. Higher antibody titres for isotypes IgG and IgA were still seen on day 21 of age. Antibody production of isotypes IgA and IgM by the chickens themselves was found between 14 and 21 days of age. Two challenge models (10(2) cfu/bird on day 1 of age and a seeder bird model, respectively) were used to evaluate the efficacy of maternal antibodies against challenge with S. Enteritidis. Using both models numbers of challenge organisms were lower in the caeca of the progeny of immunized parent birds between day 7 and day 21 of age (maximum about 1.5 log10 units) compared with control chicks. The results indicate the efficacy of maternally transferred antibodies but it remains the question of their practical relevance. The effects of acquired maternal antibodies on an active immunization of the progeny of immunized breeder birds with live Salmonella vaccines are discussed.
    Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift 11/1997; 110(10):373-7. · 0.82 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Significance of motility of Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium as a virulence factor and on the expression of the inhibition phenomenon in vitro and in vivo in SPF chickens].
    U Methner, P A Barrow
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    ABSTRACT: Methods of immunoprophylaxis for poultry using live Salmonella vaccines are increasingly gaining in importance. Methods of a simple and reliable bacteriological as well as serological differentiation between vaccine and field strains will be of decisive importance for the acceptance and use of live Salmonella vaccines. The absence of motility in Salmonella strains may be a marker fulfilling these criteria. The studies described served to examine whether virulence and the ability to inhibit other Salmonella strains could be influenced by the absence of motility in Salmonella (S.) Enteritidis and (S.) Typhimurium. In a cell-culture model (IEC 6) under in vitro conditions, non-motile transposon mutants (TnphoA) of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium exhibited a clearly reduced invasion potential in comparison with the respective motile parental strain. Under in vitro conditions (nutrient broth culture), the inhibitory potential of these non-motile mutants was also reduced compared to the motile original strains. In contrast, in vivo studies in a-few-days-old chickens revealed that there was no reduction of the virulence of non-motile mutants of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium in comparison with the motile parental strain. In day-old chicks, the inhibitory potential of non-motile strains was significantly reduced and in some cases, had even become completely lost.
    Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift 11/1997; 110(10):391-6. · 0.82 Impact Factor
  • Article: Importance of the serovar-specific plasmid for virulence of salmonella strains in calves.
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    ABSTRACT: To evaluate the influence of serovar-specific plasmids on salmonella virulence in calves, experiments were performed involving infection, by the oral route, with mixtures of strains containing equal counts of a plasmid-carrying and a plasmid-free strain of the same serovar. The concentration ratio between the plasmid-carrying and the plasmid-free strain which had developed in the organs of the infected animals was used for a comparative evaluation of virulence and pathogenetic behaviour of the strains. While in the S. typhimurium strains studied, the presence of the plasmid was accompanied by a significantly increased colonization and multiplication of the agent in the host's body, examination of S. enteritidis and S. dublin revealed that the plasmid-free strains exhibited identical or even significantly higher bacterial counts than the plasmid-carrying strains in organs. The fact that plasmid-free salmonella strains with a high virulence for calves have been found demonstrates that the presence of a serovar-specific plasmid is not an indispensable requirement for the development of salmonellosis in calves.
    Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie: international journal of medical microbiology 11/1997; 286(3):371-82.
  • Article: Comparative study of the protective effect against Salmonella colonisation in newly hatched SPF chickens using live, attenuated Salmonella vaccine strains, wild-type Salmonella strains or a competitive exclusion product.
    U Methner, P A Barrow, G Martin, H Meyer
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    ABSTRACT: There is a need to prevent intestinal colonisation by Salmonella enteritidis and S. typhimurium in newly hatched chicks. Treatment with an undefined bacterial flora is not acceptable to regulatory agencies in some countries because of the potential risk of transmitting pathogens. A defined culture with a potency and stability equivalent to those of an undefined culture has not yet been developed. Since attenuated Salmonella vaccine strains could possess the colonisation characteristics but not the virulence of Salmonella wild-type strains, they could inhibit colonisation of the challenge organism. S. typhimurium live vaccines registered in Germany (Zoosaloral H, Salmonella vac T), S. enteritidis aroA and S. typhimurium aroA strains, S. enteritidis, S. typhimurium and S. infantis wild-type strains or a competitive exclusion product (Broilact) were used as pretreatment cultures and evaluated for their inhibitory effects against S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium colonisation in newly hatched SPF chickens. Day-old chicks were administered a pretreatment culture and infected orally with variants of S. enteritidis or S. typhimurium wild type-strains resistant to nalidixic acid or rifampicin 1 day after pretreatment. On days 2 and 6 after infection, viable numbers of the challenge strain in liver and caeca were determined. The results for birds pretreated with Broilact showed a distinct protective effect against both S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium at a challenge dose of 10(4) cfu/bird. After pretreatment of chicks with S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium wild-type strains, the greatest degree of inhibition of caecal colonisation was produced using isogenic strains. Colonisation after infection with non-isogenic strains could not be prevented but only reduced for a brief period. These effects were also observed after administration of aroA strains of S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium but the protective effect was considerably lower than after pretreatment with wild-type Salmonella strains. Inoculation with attenuated S. typhimurium vaccines resulted in a weak but significantly reduced colonisation by S. typhimurium. Colonisation by S. enteritidis could not be diminished by either of the S. typhimurium vaccine strains. The results indicate in principle the potency of Salmonella vaccine strains to inhibit Salmonella wild-type colonisation in newly hatched chicks. Potential vaccine candidates should be tested for their capacity to prevent intestinal colonisation in newly hatched chicks.
    International Journal of Food Microbiology 05/1997; 35(3):223-30. · 3.33 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Inhibition phenomena between Salmonella strains--a new aspect of salmonella infection control in poultry].
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    ABSTRACT: Freshly hatched chickens show a very high susceptibility to Salmonella infections and control measures are therefore frequently focused on the period shortly after hatching. Experimental investigations using one strain against itself, differentiated by different antibiotic resistance markers, have shown that colonisation with Salmonella prevents the establishment of subsequently inoculated challenge organisms in the chicken gut. The inhibition effect lasts for several days and is detectable even when a challenge dose of 10(8) organisms is used. It is dependent of the breed of bird. Chickens colonised with Salmonella shed a subsequently inoculated challenge strain with significant lower numbers for several weeks than do non colonised control birds. The phenomenon is strain specific but not serovarspecific as has been shown in investigations using different strains of the same and other serovars for colonisation and challenge. The phenomenon shows a large variability between strains. Using other Enterobacteriaceae strains comparable inhibition against Salmonella was not observed. One important topic for further investigation is the capability of Salmonella live vaccines given orally to establish a protection effect, based on the inhibition phenomenon in the first few days of live, developing into a long-lasting immunity when birds reach immunological maturity.
    DTW. Deutsche tierärztliche Wochenschrift 12/1996; 103(11):468-72. · 0.41 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Immunization with potential Salmonella enteritidis mutants-- 2. Investigations on the attenuation and immunogenicity for mice and young hens].
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    ABSTRACT: Adenine-amino acid auxotrophic Salmonella Enteritidis double mutants were investigated for their in vivo stability, attenuation und immunogenicity using NMRI-mice and SPF-chicks. All mutants used were stable in vivo and attenuated. Two mutants were selected for immunization experiments in chickens according to their protective ability after a single intraperitoneal immunization in NMRI-mice using a homologous and heterologous challenge. After two oral immunizations and homologous oral challenge with the S. Enteritidis wild type strain 6403Nalr, a significant difference (p < 0.01) was demonstrated between the mean caecal bacterial counts of immunized and control chicks. Examination of liver samples revealed a significantly lower degree of colonization of internal organs (p < 0.01) in immunized birds. There was no evidence of cross protection against S. Typhimurium using S. Enteritidis mutants.
    Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift 11/1996; 109(10):369-74. · 0.82 Impact Factor