Ontogeny of the ferret humoral immune response.
Infant ferrets are born with nearly undetectable immunoglobulin levels, but by 9 days of age the infant ferret serum contains 77, 29, and 13% of adult mean serum levels of IgG, IgA, and IgM. Transmucosal uptake of IgG by the infant ferret occurred for the first 30 days of life. The specific anti-respiratory syncytial virus neutralizing titer of whole milk was 5.5 times higher than maternal serum despite a lower concentration of immunoglobulins in the milk.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005289:Ferrets; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D008892:Milk / Q000276:immunology; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / Q000276:immunology
D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M