OBTAINMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF AN IMMUNOGENIC CONJUGATE OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE AND BOVINE SERUM ALBUMIN

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an etiologic agent of opportunistic infections mainly in immunocompromised patients. Its inherent feature of developing resistance to a wide range of antibacterial agents make it a critical point in infection control. In animals, problems with multidrug resistance occur in otitis, cystitis, uveo-conjunctivitis, endometritis and mastitis, and there is no commercially available vaccine. With the aim of improving its immunogenicity, the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigen was coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA) with .-periodate as the reductive agent. The conjugation was evaluated by gel-permeation chromatography, by quantitating total sugar and protein, and both LPS and BSA were detected in similar proportions. The immunization of mice with LPS-BSA conjugate vaccine resulted in an agglutinating antibody response against P. aeruginosa lower than that obtained for a mixture of free LPS and BSA. They were 65% and 86% lower in the 6th and 10th weeks after the hyperimmunization procedure, respectively. This indicates that the conjugation reaction resulted in an immunogenic product, however its quality should be improved.