Cryptosporidium Priming Is More Effective than Vaccine for Protection against Cryptosporidiosis in a Murine Protein Malnutrition Model

Cryptosporidium is a major cause of severe diarrhea, especially in malnourished children. Using a murine model of C. parvum oocyst challenge that recapitulates clinical features of severe cryptosporidiosis during malnutrition, we interrogated the effect of protein malnutrition (PM) on primary and secondary responses to C. parvum challenge, and tested the differential ability of mucosal priming strategies to overcome the PM-induced susceptibility. We determined that while PM fundamentally alters systemic and mucosal primary immune responses to Cryptosporidium, priming with C. parvum (106 oocysts) provides robust protective immunity against re-challenge despite ongoing PM. C. parvum priming restores mucosal Th1-type effectors (CD3+CD8+CD103+ T-cells) and cytokines (IFNγ, and IL12p40) that otherwise decrease with ongoing PM. Vaccination strategies with Cryptosporidium antigens expressed in the S. Typhi vector 908htr, however, do not enhance Th1-type responses to C. parvum challenge during PM, even though vaccination strongly boosts immunity in challenged fully nourished hosts. Remote non-specific exposures to the attenuated S. Typhi vector alone or the TLR9 agonist CpG ODN-1668 can partially attenuate C. parvum severity during PM, but neither as effectively as viable C. parvum priming. We conclude that although PM interferes with basal and vaccine-boosted immune responses to C. parvum, sustained reductions in disease severity are possible through mucosal activators of host defenses, and specifically C. parvum priming can elicit impressively robust Th1-type protective immunity despite ongoing protein malnutrition. These findings add insight into potential correlates of Cryptosporidium immunity and future vaccine strategies in malnourished children

Nutritional Evaluation of Sago of Gebang Tree (Corypha utan Lamk) from Different Locations in West Timor - Indonesia for Broilers

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of sago from different locations in West Timor, Indonesia for broilers. Experiment I aimed at determining the apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and nutrient digestibility of sago from different locations. A total of 120 broilers (unsexed, age 21 d) were randomly distributed to 24 metabolic cages (5 birds/cage). The experimental design was a completely randomized design (CRD) consisting of 6 treatments and 4 replications.  The experimental diets were a basal diet (maize-soy) and 5 treatment diets which were a mixture of basal ration (75%) and sago (25%) from different locations. Experiment II was about performance trials. Two different basal diets were formulated, supplemented with synbiotics and fed to 200 birds (unsexed, 10 birds/pen). The experimental design was a 2 x 2 factorial CRD. With the exception of phytate and phenol contents, the results showed that the location affected (p<0.05 to 0.01) the contents of dry matter, crude protein, and crude fiber, tannins, NDF, ADF, flavonoids, AME/n, and starch digestibility of sago. The location did not affect (p>0.05) ash, crude fat, starch, Ca, P, and gross energy contents of sago. Basal diets affected (p<0.05 to 0.001) all performance traits. Except for BWG, synbiotics did not affect (p>0.05) the performance of the birds. In conclusion, the nutrient composition and digestibility of sago are affected by locations. Sago is rich in starch and high in AME values, but poor sources of calcium, phosphor, and protein. Sago contains fiber, tannin, phytate, flavonoids, and phenol. Sago diets improved the performance of broilers. Synbiotics did not improve the performance of birds