Vitamin A deficiency impairs the immune response to intranasal vaccination and RSV infection in neonatal calves

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a leading cause of severe acute lower respiratory tract infection in infants and children worldwide. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most prevalent nutrition-related health problems in the world and is a significant risk factor in the development of severe respiratory infections in infants and young children. Bovine RSV (BRSV) is a primary cause of lower respiratory tract disease in young cattle. The calf model of BRSV infection is useful to understand the immune response to human RSV infection. We have previously developed an amphiphilic polyanhydride nanoparticle (NP)-based vaccine (i.e., nanovaccine) encapsulating the fusion and attachment proteins from BRSV (BRSV-NP). Calves receiving a single, intranasal dose of the BRSV-NP vaccine are partially protected from BRSV challenge. Here, we evaluated the impact of VAD on the immune response to the BRSV-NP vaccine and subsequent challenge with BRSV. Our results show that VAD calves are unable to respond to the mucosal BRSV-NP vaccine, are afforded no protection from BRSV challenge and have significant abnormalities in the inflammatory response in the infected lung. We further show that acute BRSV infection negatively impacts serum and liver retinol, rendering even well-nourished individuals susceptible to VAD. Our results support the use of the calf model for elucidating the impact of nutritional status on mucosal immunity and respiratory viral infection in infants and underline the importance of VA in regulating immunity in the respiratory mucosa.

Supplementing a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product modulates innate immune function and ameliorates bovine respiratory syncytial virus infection in neonatal calves

“…The remaining calves were euthanized on day 10 after infection and a necropsy was performed. The control calves developed lung lesions that were consistent with our previous studies ( Sacco et al, 2012a , 2014 ; McGill et al, 2018 , 2019a , 2019b ), with bilateral, multifocal to coalescing areas of pneumonic consolidation. Consistent with the observed reduction in clinical disease scores, SCFP-treated calves had reduced gross lung pathology ( P = 0.031), with only a few foci of consolidation present, mostly in the cranial regions of the lung.…”

The impact of individual lifestyle and status on the acquisition of COVID-19: A case—Control study

“…Vitamin C has been shown to enhance differentiation and proliferation of B-and T-cells, supplementation with vitamin C appears to be able to both prevent and treat respiratory and systemic infections [38]. Additionally, people with vitamin A deficiency are more likely to have an increased risk of having an impaired immune response to respiratory and influenza viruses [39,40]. These are consistent with the results of our study, and can partially explain its mechanism.…”

Applications of Nanovaccines for Disease Prevention in Cattle

“…A reliable vaccine for young stock should overcome the challenge of MDA interference. Mucosal delivery of vaccines is more likely to "override" the presence of passively acquired MDA to induce a protective immune response in young animals, as reported in several studies such as BVDV (Blodörn et al, 2014) and BRSV (Vangeel et al, 2007;Ellis et al, 2013;McGill et al, 2018McGill et al, , 2019.…”