Serological Activity of the Fractions of Antigen Brucella ovis

G. KOSTOV¹, I. DIMITROVA², M. STEFANOV¹ and A. ARNAUDOV³

¹ Central Veterinary Research Institute, BG-1606 Sofia, Bulgaria
² Bulgarian Academy of Science, Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction, BG-1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
³ Regional Veterinary Research Institute, BG-4006 Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Abstract

KOSTOV, G., I. DIMITROVA, M. STEFANOV and A. ARNAUDOV, 2000. Serological activity of the fractions of antigen Brucella ovis. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 6: 239-242

The separation of the official Bulgarian antigen B. ovis for CFT was made by membrane filters. Using the sera, obtained from experimentally infected rams on days 5 to 48 after infection, it was established that the immunological activity of the antigen is sited generally in fractions with m.w. over 300 kDa and in slight grade in fractions with m.w. from 30 kDa to100 kDa. It was received similar results with sera derived from rams with natural infection. Using the hyperimmune serum, only the fraction with m.w. over 300 kDa was serologically active. The advantage of fractionated antigen handling in serological diagnostic of Brucella ovis infection in rams was discussed. We agree that the use of the fraction with m.w. over 300 kDa enhance the specificity of CFT.

Key words: Br. ovis, rams, ultrafiltration
Abbreviations: CFT= Complement Fixation Test; CFU = Colony Forming Units; kDa = kilo Daltons