Abstract
Groups of 15 laboratory-bred beagles were vaccinated and boosted with either a placebo or adjuvanted bivalent bacterin comprised of a traditional Borrelia burgdorferi strain and a unique ospA- and ospB-negative B. burgdorferi strain that expressed high levels of OspC and then challenged with B. burgdorferi-infected Ixodes scapularis ticks. The vaccinated dogs produced high titers of anti-OspA and anti-OspC borreliacidal antibodies, including borreliacidal antibodies specific for an epitope within the last seven amino acids at the OspC carboxy terminus (termed OspC7) that was conserved among pathogenic Borrelia genospecies. In addition, spirochetes were eliminated from the infected ticks that fed on the bacterin recipients, B. burgdorferi was not isolated from the skin or joints, and antibody responses associated specifically with canine infection with B. burgdorferi were not produced. In contrast, B. burgdorferi was recovered from engorged ticks that fed on 13 (87%) placebo-vaccinated dogs (P<0.0001), skin biopsy specimens from 14 (93%) dogs (P<0.0001), and joint tissue specimens from 8 (53%) dogs (P=0.0022). In addition, 14 (93%) dogs developed specific antibody responses against B. burgdorferi proteins, including 11 (73%) with C6 peptide antibodies (P<0.0001). Moreover, 10 (67%) dogs developed Lyme disease-associated joint abnormalities (P<0.0001), including 4 (27%) dogs that developed joint stiffness or lameness and 6 (40%) that developed chronic joint inflammation (synovitis). The results therefore confirmed that the bacterin provided a high level of protection against Lyme disease shortly after immunization.