Development of a Novel Recombinant Heamagglutinin-Neuramindase Elisa (rHN-ELISA) for Evaluation of Humoral Immunity in Chicken Vaccinated Against Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV)

Best known method to prevent recurrent out breaks of Newcastle Disease (ND) is by vaccination with specific viral antigens along with better managemental practices. Even after many viral strains utilized for vaccine development, sporadic incidence of ND outbreaks are reported every year. In the present study, an attempt was made to develop a modified diagnostic tool i.e., a recombinant ELISA (rELISA) using prokaryotic expressed recombinant NDV HN (Hemagglutinin-Neuraminidase) protein i.e., the recombinant ND viral protein was cloned and expressed in E. coli after confirmation of the expression; purified protein was used as the coating antigen for rEEN-ELISA to study the utility of the presently commercially available vaccines and to compare the present diagnostic method with other alternative detection methods such as ELISA and HI which justified its potential use as a novel diagnostic assay for NDV vaccines. Therefore, an attempt was made to utilise the RN glycoproteins which are fundamentally involved in eliciting immune response against NDV, so that evaluation of antibodies against ITN proteins would provide further specific assessment of antibody titres when compared to available diagnostic methods which target to detect antibodies against whole virus. Such novel methods are expected in turn in development of more specific vaccines. Though, rEEN-ELISA was inconclusive in its results to substantiate by SN (Serum Neutralizing) test for clearness of neutralizing antibody detection, it may envisage a novel approach towards countering ND outbreaks by supporting its diagnosis and prevention.