Effects of high molecular weight poly-γ-glutamic acid on pigs with porcine preproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection

Bacillus subtilis sups. chungkookjang produces a higher molecular mass poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA). Recently previous studies have demonstrated immune stimulation and an antitumor effect of the high molecular mass γ-PGA using various mouse models although these effects have not been shown in other species of animals. Therefore, the current study was conducted to determine the effect of γ-PGA in pigs with and without PRRSV infection. PRRS-negative pigs were intramuscularly injected with 1, 3, or 5 ml of 20 mg/ml γ-PGA, and one group of pigs served as a non-treatment (NT) group. All groups treated with γ-PGA had significantly higher weight gains, and pigs treated with 5 ml of γ-PGA exhibited higher tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (IFN)-α and IFN-β expression levels compared with the NT group. According to the preliminary results, an animal challenge study was conducted with a highly virulent PRRSV strain, MN184, along with γ-PGA treatment at different time points. Pigs treated with γ-PGA had lower levels of viral loads in the sera and in lungs and gained significantly more weight (p<0.05) compared with the NT group after being challenged with MN184. Moreover, γ-PGA-treatment groups had higher levels of neutralizing antibodies and cytokines related to proinflammatory, humoral and cell-mediated responses than the control group after the PRRSV challenge. Therefore, it was concluded that γ-PGA induces higher levels of immune responses and increases resistance to PRRSV infection in pigs.