Modulation of innate immunity in chickens induced by in vivo administration of baculovirus.

CHIMENO ZOTH, S.; CARBALLEDA, J.M.; GÓMEZ E.; GRAVISACO, M.J.; CARRILLO E.; BERINSTEIN A.

VETERINARY IMMUNOLOGY AND IMMUNOPATHOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2012 vol. 145 p. 241 - 247

0165-2427

Baculoviruses stimulate cytokine production in mammalian cells. They induce a strong innate immune response in animals and have adjuvant properties. The purpose of this work was to study the in vivo effect of baculovirus on chicken innate immune response. SPF chickens were inoculated intravenously with Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BV). Three hours later, chickens were bled, euthanized and their spleen, duodenum and cecal tonsils were excised in order to take samples for RNA extraction and Real Time PCR, and to isolate lymphocytes, which were stained and analyzed by flow cytometry. The results obtained showed that baculovirus inoculation up-regulates the expression of IFNg, IL-6 and LITAF in spleen cells. This result (IFNg) correlated with that obtained by ELISA which showed a very strong increase of IFNg in chicken plasma. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that BV inoculation induced a decrease in the percentage of T-lymphocytes, mainly of CD3+CD4+, and an increase in the frequency of NK cells in cecal tonsils. On the other hand, in spleen, an increment in the percentage of monocyte/macrophage population was detected, together with an increase in T lymphocytes CD3+CD4+. Finally, intraepithelial lymphocytes of the gut did not show differences between BV and control treated animals. Even though further studies in order to understand the mechanisms by which BVs affect the avian immune response are needed, results obtained in the present work demonstrate the ability of BVs to stimulate the innate immunity in chickens, modifying the expression pattern of related genes and the profile of immune cells involved.