Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied Microbiology logoLink to Applied Microbiology
. 1970 May;19(5):763–767. doi: 10.1128/am.19.5.763-767.1970

Gamma-Irradiated Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Vaccines

Morton Reitman 1, H R Tribble Jr 1, Leonard Green 1
PMCID: PMC376784  PMID: 5463575

Abstract

The efficacy of Formalin-inactivated Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) vaccine has been reported to be low for man. Although a live VEE vaccine has been shown to be highly effective for the protection of laboratory workers, local and systemic reactions have occurred in approximately 20% of inoculated individuals. Therefore, studies were initiated in an attempt to produce an inactivated vaccine of high potency with low toxicity. Inactivated VEE vaccines were prepared by exposing virus suspensions to 8 × 106 or 10 × 106 r of gamma radiation. Irradiated VEE vaccines prepared from virus suspensions produced in Maitland-type chick embryo (MTCE) cell cultures and in monolayer cultures of human diploid strain WI-38 cells were highly immunogenic for mice and guinea pigs. Guinea pigs vaccinated with a series of three inoculations of vaccine (MTCE) survived challenge with at least 108·4 mouse intracerebral 50% lethal doses of VEE virus. Irradiated vaccines induced high levels of serum-neutralizing and hemagglutinin-inhibiting antibodies in guinea pigs and rabbits. These findings suggest that ionizing radiation may be effective in the preparation of an inactivated VEE vaccine.

Full text

PDF
763

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Cole F. E., Jr, McKinney R. W. Use of hamsters of potency assay of Eastern and Western equine encephalitis vaccines. Appl Microbiol. 1969 Jun;17(6):927–928. doi: 10.1128/am.17.6.927-928.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. GORDON M., DONALDSON D. M., WRIGHT G. G. IMMUNIZATION OF MICE WITH IRRADIATED PASTEURELLA TULARENSIS. J Infect Dis. 1964 Dec;114:435–440. doi: 10.1093/infdis/114.5.435. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. HARDY F. M. The growth of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus in various tissue cultures. Am J Hyg. 1959 Jul;70(1):21–27. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120061. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. JORDAN R. T., KEMPE L. L. Inactivation of some animal viruses with gamma radiation from cobalt-60. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1956 Feb;91(2):212–215. doi: 10.3181/00379727-91-22215. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. MCKINNEY R. W., BERGE T. O., SAWYER W. D., TIGERTT W. D., CROZIER D. USE OF AN ATTENUATED STRAIN OF VENEZUELAN EQUINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS VIRUS FOR IMMUNIZATION IN MAN. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1963 Jul;12:597–603. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1963.12.597. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. NAGLE S. C., Jr, TRIBBLE H. R., Jr, ANDERSON R. E., GARY N. D. A chemically defined medium for growth of animal cells in suspension. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1963 Feb;112:340–344. doi: 10.3181/00379727-112-28038. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. POLLEY J. R. Factors influencing inactivation of infectivity and hemagglutinin of influenza virus by gamma radiation. Can J Microbiol. 1961 Aug;7:535–541. doi: 10.1139/m61-063. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. RANDALL R., MAURER F. D., SMADEL J. E. Immunization of laboratory workers with purified Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis vaccine. J Immunol. 1949 Nov;63(3):313–318. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Reitman M., Green L. Growth of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus in human diploid cell strain WI-38. Appl Microbiol. 1970 Jan;19(1):196–198. doi: 10.1128/am.19.1.196-198.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Reitman M. Nonviable Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis hemagglutinin prepared from tissue cultures by gamma radiation. Appl Microbiol. 1969 Aug;18(2):278–279. doi: 10.1128/am.18.2.278-279.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Reitman M., Tribble H. R. Inactivation of Venezuelan Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus by gamma-Radiation. Appl Microbiol. 1967 Nov;15(6):1456–1459. doi: 10.1128/am.15.6.1456-1459.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. SMITH D. G., MAMAY H. K., MARSHALL R. G., WAGNER J. C. Venezulean equine encephalomyelitis; laboratory aspects of fourteen human cases following vaccination and attempts to isolate the virus from the vaccine. Am J Hyg. 1956 Mar;63(2):150–164. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES