title: Changes of cytokines and IgG antibody in chickens vaccinated with DNA vaccines encoding Eimeria acervulina lactate dehydrogenase.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of cytokines and specific serum IgG in chickens following vaccination with DNA vaccines encoding either Eimeria acervulina (E. acervulina) lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) antigen or LDH and chicken IL-2 or IFN-γ. Two-week-old chickens were randomly divided into five groups. Experimental group of chickens were immunized with DNA vaccines while control group of chickens were injected with pVAX1 plasmid alone or sterile water. All immunizations were boosted 2 weeks later. The LDH-specific IgG antibody response was measured at weeks 1-6 post-second immunization. The result showed that the antibody titers in chickens vaccinated with DNA vaccines were significantly different from those of the control groups 1 week after the second immunization (P<0.05) and reached the maximum values 3 weeks post-second immunization. The systemic and local cytokine mRNA expression was determined by quantitative RT-PCR 7 days post-second immunization. The specific IgG antibody levels against LDH of all chickens vaccinated with vaccines were increased compared to those of sterile water (H(2)O) and plasmid (pVAX1) control chickens 1-6 weeks post-second immunization (P<0.05). The mRNA levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, TNFSF15, IL-17D as well as TGF-β4 in both spleen and cecal tonsil were also increased in experimental chickens. In contrast, the only significant change of IL-4 mRNA level was observed in spleen of chickens immunized with pVAX-LDH-IL-2 compared with pVAX-LDH and control groups (P<0.05). These results suggested that DNA vaccines could increase the IgG antibody level and induce the expressions of cytokines.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Xiaokai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Ruofeng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Muhammad Ali A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Xiangrui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D004539:Eimeria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007114:Immunization / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011897:Random Allocation; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines; D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase