Background and Aim: The beta toxin is causing the most severe Clostridium perfringens-related diseases. This work was dedicated to developing a vaccine against beta toxin using C. perfringens type C (NCTC 3180).

Materials and Methods: The crude toxoid harvest contained 710 limits of flocculation (Lf)/mL. The vaccine was formulated. Each 1 mL of the final vaccine product contained at least 50 Lf/mL of beta toxoids, 0.2 mL 3% aluminum hydroxide gel (equivalent to 5.18 mg of aluminum), <0.001% W/V thiomersal, formaldehyde <0.05% W/V, and ∼0.7 mL phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.2). The efficacy of the vaccine was evaluated by potency, stability, and safety tests.

Results: The vaccine demonstrated 24.36 IU/mL (standard deviation, ±0.56) and 14.74 IU/mL (±0.36) of neutralizing antibodies in rabbits and cattle, respectively. Indeed, these levels were above the minimum recommended by international protocols since the obtained antibody levels had 2.43- and 1.47-fold increase in both rabbits and cattle, respectively, over the minimum antitoxin level suggested by the United States Department of Agriculture. Interestingly, our formulation was capable of inducing 1.65-fold higher immune responses in rabbits than that stimulated in cattle (65% increase) with a significant difference (p<0.0001). The vaccine was stable up to 30 months. The vaccinated rabbits were suffered from a temporarily slight increase in temperatures in the first 10 h without any significant difference (p>0.05).

Conclusion: The research showed a procedure for the manufacturing process of the vaccine against C. perfringens beta toxins with a feasible quantity and the vaccine described here showed to be effective in eliciting levels of neutralizing antibodies higher than required by international standards. In addition, The vaccine was stable up to 30 months. Thus, it may represent an effective and safe for preventing C. perfringens-related diseases in rabbits and cattle, although further studies to prove its efficacy in the field on other farm animals are still needed.

Keywords: beta toxin, cattle, Clostridium perfringens type C, potency, safety, stability, toxoid.