title: Effect of perinatal anti-TCR2 treatment and thymectomy on serum immunoglobulin levels in the chicken.
abstract: Treatment of chickens as embryos and in the first six days after hatching with mg amounts of anti-TCR2 (alpha beta T cell antigen receptor) antibody plus thymectomy 6 to 8 days after hatching suppressed by more than 90% the TCR2 and TCR1 (TCR gamma delta) subpopulations in the blood. Thymectomy alone resulted only in a profound reduction (greater than 90%) of the absolute number of TCR1 cells, while the absolute number of TCR2 cells was reduced only by 65%. We were interested in the regulation of the immunoglobulin synthesis in these T cell deficient chickens. We determined serum IgG, IgM and IgA levels and found a profound selective reduction (by about 90% on average) of the serum IgA level in anti-TCR2 antibody treated plus thymectomized chickens. In chickens which had been thymectomized only, the serum IgA level was reduced on average only by about 60%. Serum IgG and IgM levels were not reduced in any group. Thus, there was a positive correlation of the serum IgA level and the absolute number of TCR2 cells in all groups. These results indicate that T cells which play a role in IgA specific isotype switching or in IgA B cell differentiation belong to the TCR2 subpopulation.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physiologie, Physiologische Chemie und Ernährungsphysiologie, Tierärztliche Fakultät, Universität Müchen, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cihak
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Ziegler-Heitbrock
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lösch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo / Q000276:immunology; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D007116:Immunization, Passive; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000032:analysis*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology*; D013934:Thymectomy / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D007136:Immunoglobulins; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell