Campylobacter colonization of the chicken induces a proinflammatory response in mucosal tissues.
Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of human inflammatory enteritis, but colonizes the gastrointestinal tract of poultry to a high level in a commensal manner. In vitro, C. jejuni induces the production of cytokines from both human and avian-model epithelial cell and macrophage infections. This suggests that, in vivo, Campylobacter could induce proinflammatory signals in both hosts. We investigated whether a proinflammatory cytokine response can be measured in both day-of-hatch and 2-week-old Light Sussex chickens during infection with C. jejuni. A significant induction of proinflammatory chemokine transcript was observed in birds of both ages, compared with levels in mock-infected controls. This correlated with an influx of heterophils but was not associated with any pathology. These results suggest that in poultry there may be a controlled inflammatory process during colonization.
Smith
Christopher K
CK
Institute for Animal Health, Compton, Berkshire, UK.
Abuoun
Manal
M
Cawthraw
Shaun A
SA
Humphrey
Tom J
TJ
Rothwell
Lisa
L
Kaiser
Pete
P
Barrow
Paul A
PA
Jones
Michael A
MA
D000818:Animals; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002432:Cecum / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002645:Chickens; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D007082:Ileum / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms
D016207:Cytokines