title: Individual differences in cell-mediated and humoral immunity in pigs.
abstract: Previous experiments displayed consistent individual behavioural differences in pigs. Some showed a more active behavioural response (aggressive and resistant; so-called A/R pigs), other a more passive behavioural response (non-aggressive and non-resistant; so-called NA/NR pigs). Moreover, these behavioural coping strategies were associated with different behavioural, physiological and endocrine responses under stress conditions. In the present study we selected 32 A/R and 32 NA/NR individuals and tested their immune reactivity in reaction to stress using several cell-mediated (CMI) and humoral immunological tests. Active A/R pigs had a higher in vivo and in vitro CMI to nonspecific and specific antigens, while after stress CMI reduced more in A/R than in NA/NR pigs. In contrast, humoral immunity was highest in NA/NR pigs. Furthermore, some serologically typed swine lymphocyte antigen (SLA) class I haplotypes were not equally distributed between A/R and NA/NR pigs. In general, these findings show that measurement of immune reactivity is an important tool to define how animals cope with environmental demands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Husbandry, Agricultural University Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hessing
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Coenen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaiman
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Renard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D006433:Hemocyanins / Q000276:immunology; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000032:analysis; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000662:veterinary; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008934:Mitogens; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000276:immunology; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000276:immunology*; D012882:Skin Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D008934:Mitogens; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D006433:Hemocyanins; C032808:keyhole-limpet hemocyanin