Prebiotics modulate immune responses in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue of chickens.

The recent European Union ban on the prophylactic use of in-feed antibiotics has escalated the search for alternatives for use within the poultry industry. When evaluating the efficacy of potential antibiotic alternatives on bird health and productivity, it is important to analyze the competence of the immune cells in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), because it is routinely involved in the surveillance of colonizing microbes as well as in interacting with the ingested feed antigens. Therefore, we studied the effect of the prebiotics mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) and fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) on the phenotypic and functional competence of immune cells in cecal tonsil (CT), which is a major GALT.

Administration of porcine interleukin-3 induces increased levels of blood eosinophils.

Increasing resistance to anthelmintic drugs indicates a vital need to develop alternative strategies to control helminth infections. Interleukin-3 (IL-3) is a multilineage hematopoietic growth regulator produced by activated T lymphocytes in response to infection. In helminth infections, eosinophils play an important role in the elimination of parasites through their recruitment of inflammatory cells and the release of granules.

Molecular cloning, expression, and characterization of chicken IFN -lambda.

Interferons (IFN) provide a critical first line of defense against viral infection in vertebrates. Moreover, IFN-lambda, a recently identified group of mammalian IFN, has demonstrated antiviral potential in the treatment of mammalian viruses. With the growing concern over such diseases as avian influenza (AI), there is a pressing need for new antiviral strategies to manage problem viruses in poultry.

IFN-gamma enhances immune responses to E. coli infection in the chicken.

Escherichia coli infection of the respiratory system in chickens occurs as a sequel to a variety of environmental stressors or microbial infections, culminating as chronic respiratory disease (CRD) syndrome or colibacillosis. These diseases cause significant production losses in poultry. With the growing concerns about the use of antibiotics in animal production, for diseases such as CRD, alternative natural agents, like cytokines, may be considered for enhancing health by stimulating the immune system.

Development of an anti-porcine CD34 monoclonal antibody that identifies hematopoietic stem cells.

Objectives: The isolation of porcine hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) would be an important step toward development of porcine-to-human chimerism for induction of tolerance in clinical xenotransplantation. CD34 is a common marker of HSC and has not been developed as a marker in pigs. In this study we have generated and characterized a monoclonal antibody (mAb) that identifies porcine CD34 on a subset of porcine bone marrow (BM) stem/progenitor cells.