The potency of whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccines is still determined by an intracerebral mouse protection test. To allow development of suitable in vitro alternatives to this test, insight into relevant parameters to monitor the consistency of vaccine quality is essential. To this end, a panel of experimental wP vaccines of varying quality was prepared by sulfate-mediated suppression of the Bv...

This white paper discusses current methods for assessing nAb responses and defining genetic determinants of neutralization escape. It also describes the breadth and potency of nAb responses elicited during HIV infection and the primary challenges facing the development of a broadly protective vaccine. Finally, it shares recent efforts to generate new broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (...

Three combined triple antigen vaccines were used to inoculate infants receiving primary immunization at 3 to 6 months of age. Laboratory potency and toxicity tests and clinical evaluation again showed that the mouse weight gain test is able to predict which vaccines will give reactions in children. The addition of aluminium hydroxide to the vaccine both increased potency and reduced the tendenc...

Curtailing the observation of mice challenged with tetanus toxin in potency test of tetanus vaccine would reduce the agony of mice from spastic paralysis. From the viewpoint of animal welfare, we investigated the feasibility this measure. The potencies of 85 lots of vaccine obtained on the 4th day after challenge were compared with those obtained on the seventh day. No significant difference wa...

Sheep pox and enterotoxemia are important diseases of sheep, and these diseases cause severe economic losses to sheep farmers. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the potential of formaldehyde-inactivated recombinant epsilon toxin as a vaccine candidate. The potency of the recombinant epsilon toxoid with aluminum hydroxide as an adjuvant in sheep was determined. Vaccinated sheep were p...

Regulatory T (T(reg)) cells show promise for treating autoimmune diseases, but their induction to elevated potency has been problematic when the most optimally derived cells are from diseased animals. To circumvent reliance on autoantigen-reactive T(reg) cells, stimulation to myelin-independent Ags may offer a viable alternative while maintaining potency to treat experimental autoimmune encepha...

The ability of a single administration of a high, medium and low potency foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine to decrease or inhibit local virus replication and excretion in the oropharynx of sheep following aerosol challenge with homologous live virus 14 days later was examined. Unvaccinated sheep showed signs of clinical FMD, whereas all of the vaccinated sheep, regardless of antigen payload,...

ABSTRACT 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Review of 1999 International Conference on Alternatives to Animal Challenge Tests in the Batch Control of Leptospira Vaccines for Veterinary Use Lukas Bruckner, Institute of Virology and Immunoprophylaxis (IVI), Mittelhäusern, Switzerland1 ..........

Nobivac® Lepto (MSD Animal Health) is a non-adjuvanted canine leptospirosis vaccine containing inactivated whole cells of Leptospira interrogans serogroup Canicola serovar Portlandvere and L. interrogans serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae serovar Copenhageni. The current standard in vivo potency test is a hamster challenge test associated with major drawbacks such as animal suffering and poor reprod...

Because of its advantages, there is a current trend to replace the in vivo methods by in vitro methods. The Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology has developed an in vitro assay to determine the potency of the Recombinant Hepatitis B Vaccine with the aim of substituting the in vivo assay, thus eliminating its disadvantages regarding assay time, number of animals and variability of th...