Frontiers in veterinary science
Oral levamisole as a route-decoupled adjunct to intramuscular foot-and-mouth disease vaccination: a two-species evaluation
By Kim HW, Park SH, Ko MK and 3 others.
Abstract
Introduction
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) control still depends largely on inactivated vaccines; however, improving vaccine efficacy without reformulating existing vaccines remains an important practical challenge.
Methods
We assessed oral levamisole as an independently administered adjunct alongside, but separately from, a conventional intramuscular bivalent FMD vaccine in mice and FMD-seronegative swine. Serotype-specific immune responses were assessed using structural protein (SP) ELISA and virus-neutralization (VN) assays. IgA-associated responses were examined in mouse serum and saliva and in swine serum, while cytokine-related gene transcription was profiled in porcine peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Murine post-challenge outcomes and porcine safety were also evaluated.