Comparative Effects of Deworming, Mineral and Vitamin Supplementation on Humoral Response against Peste de Petits Ruminants Vaccine in Goats

Abdullah Iqbal1, Muhammad Abubakar2, Shumaila Manzoor3, Muhammad Kamran Ameen4 and Rani Faryal1* 1Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. 2National Veterinary Laboratory, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan. 3Progressive Control of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in Pakistan, FAO, Islamabad. 4Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan Article Information Received 23 July 2017 Revised 02 October 2020 Accepted 09 November 2020 Available online 08 June 2022 (early access)

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of mineral supplementation, vitamin supplementation and deworming on humoral response against PPR vaccine in local goats. Group 1 and group 2 goats were given mineral supplementation and fat-soluble vitamin supplementation for 21 days. Group 3 goats were twice dewormed with Fenbendazole. Group 4 bucks were kept as controls. All bucks were vaccinated with the Pestivac vaccine. Antibodies detection was done using competitive ELISA from serum samples. Antigen shedding by vaccinated animals via nasal and fecal route was checked by the haemagglutination test and RT-PCR. All group 2 bucks, developed humoral protection against PPR within the 1 st week. Only, 50 percent bucks of group 1 developed humoral protection against PPR after one week of vaccination. The mean percent inhibition value of competition-ELISA of group 2 was half the mean percent inhibition values of group 3 and group 4 after one week of vaccination. There was no antigen shedding through nasal or fecal route after vaccination in any animal included in the study. P este des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a major viral disease of domesticated and wild small ruminants caused by Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus (PPRV). The first outbreak of PPR was reported from Pakistan back in 1994. Since, then many PPR outbreaks have been reported from various areas of Pakistan (Zahur et al., 2014). In the naïve population, morbidity and mortality rates of PPR can reach up to 80-100%, but morbidity and mortality rates are generally lower in endemic areas of Pakistan (Abubakar et al., 2008).
Phylogenetic analysis of PPRV isolated from outbreaks in Pakistan indicated that PPRV present in Pakistan belongs to lineage IV of PPRV (Munir et al., 2011). Live attenuated vaccine of PPRV Nigerian strain 75/1 is commonly used in Pakistan (Abubakar et al., 2015). Minerals and vitamins play a significant role in the development of both innate and adaptive immune responses. Endoparasites use the nutrients of animals and cause stress on animals (Hanssen et al., 2013). The present study was designed to evaluate and compare the effect of mineral supplementation, vitamin supplementation and deworming on the development of antibody-mediated immune response against PPR vaccine in the local goat breed to improve health for better meat production.

Material and methods
A total of 32 bucks having the same age and seronegative for PPR were selected for this study. All experimental animals were injected with 1 ml of Pestivac Jovac, (Jordan) live attenuated PPR vaccine via the subcutaneous route with a separate disposable syringe.

Results and discussion
All goats did not have any humoral immunity against PPRV before vaccination in all the four groups as indicated by the percentage inhibition values in Table I. A week after vaccination group 1 presented the highest standard deviation 16.728, percentage inhibition values and group 2 showed a minimum standard deviation 4.29. But, after the second week trend was slightly changed group 3 showed the highest standard deviation 7.62 of percentage inhibition values (Table II). Overall group 2 demonstrated the most consistent results and group 4 presented the most fluctuating results (Table II). According to the results of this study, goats that were given vitamin A, D and E supplementation developed the protective level of humoral immunity against PPRV within a week after vaccination in contrast to the other goats, which developed protective levels of humoral immunity against PPRV after two weeks. After one week of vaccination, all goats of group 2 developed enough antibody titer to give protection against PPRV. In contrast, only 50 percent of goats of group 1 and 3 goats and 25 percent of group 4 goats developed the protective level of humoral immunity against PPRV. Cipriano et al. (1982) also suggested that vitamin E supplementation boosts the humoral immune response in calves and lambs. Mora et al. (2008) described the role of vitamin A and D in the enhancement of innate and adaptive immune response. Deworming of goats did not increase antibody titer significantly as compared to goats which were supplemented with vitamins and minerals. These results were unlike the results of Undiandeye et al. (2014). Undiandeye et al. (2014) suggested that deworming in goats can boost the immune response PPR vaccine in goats. The reason for different results can be due to a lower burden of endoparasites in animals before the start of the trial. The results of the current study are similar to the study conducted by Hanssen et al. (2013), in which deworming decreased the immunoglobulin levels in Raptor species.
RT-PCR and HA test of fecal and nasal samples taken from all experimental animals before vaccination and every week after vaccination gave negative results regardless of any group. The present study shows that goats vaccinated by live attenuated PPRV strain Niger 75/1 via the subcutaneous route do not transmit the virus to their surroundings by the nasal or fecal route. These results are similar to the study conducted by Zahur et al. (2014) in goats and sheep aged from 5 months to 7 years.

Conclusion
Humoral immune response in goats was shown to be triggered to develop more antibodies against the PPR vaccine in less time by supplementation of vitamins and minerals.