Effect of adjuvant formulations on the induction of virus-neutralizing and virus-binding antibodies by chemosynthetic peptides of VP1 of foot-and-mouth-disease virus

Synthetic peptides corresponding to the 141–160 amino acid sequence of the protein VP1 of virus type O1 Kaufbeuren (O1K) and A5 Riems (A5R) were conjugated to thyroglobulin and mixed with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) or incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) together with Quil A. Although the peptide of A5R, together with IFA and Quil A, or with CFA, elicited a high antibody response to the virus in the ELISA, formula containing both IFA and Quil A induced only high titres of virus-neutralizing antibodies in rabbits. These adjuvant formulas did not display significant differences with regard to side effects.