Protection in rabbits immunized with a vaccine of Escherichia coli heat-stable toxin cross-linked to the heat-labile toxin B subunit.

Rabbits and rats were immunized with a vaccine consisting of synthetically produced Escherichia coli heat-stable toxin cross-linked by the carbodiimide reaction to the B subunit of biologically produced porcine heat-labile toxin. The vaccine contained 50% of each toxin component by weight and antigenicity; the toxicity of the heat-stable enterotoxin component was reduced by greater than 600-fold. Two or three peroral immunizations with vaccine containing 1,000 antigen units of each component raised greater-than-threefold increases in specific mucosal immunoglobulin A antitoxin titers to each component in all animal groups. Protection index values for challenge with either heat-labile or heat-stable toxins in ligated ileal loops were 3.4 to 4.0 in rats immunized by a parenteral primary immunization followed by two peroral booster immunizations, greater than 9 in rabbits immunized by these routes, and greater than 8 in rabbits given just three peroral immunizations. The antigenicity of the B-subunit component of the peroral vaccine was protected equally well against gastric acidity either by pretreatment with cimetidine or by delivery of the vaccine encapsulated in pH-dependent microspheres. The vaccine did not cause diarrhea when given perorally to any of the experimental animals or evoke fluid secretion when instilled into rabbit ligated ileal loops. These observations (i) confirm the effectiveness of this vaccine as an immunogen in a second animal model, (ii) establish that it is effective when given exclusively by the peroral route, and (iii) provide further evidence regarding its lack of toxicity.