title: Interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay as a tool to study T cell responses to Eimeria tenella infection in chickens.
abstract: The enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assay is a sensitive and easy-to-use tool to quantify the number of interferon (IFN)-γ-producing cells and offers a viable alternative for the quantitative measurement of T cell functions in chickens. To study the development of cell-mediated immunity in Eimeria-infected chickens, we measured the number of IFN-γ-producing cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by ELISPOT after 3 oral inoculations of Eimeria tenella oocysts at 2-wk intervals. We found that the number of IFN-γ-producing cells was significantly increased at 2 wk after the primary infection compared with the control group. The IFN-γ-producing cells were further increased after repeated infections, and there was a statistically significant increase in the number of IFN-γ-producing cells after the third infection than after the first infection. Our results indicated that the ELISPOT assay can be used to quantitatively measure antigen-specific T cell responses to coccidia or other avian pathogens.
authors.affiliation: China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Guangwen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Xianyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jingxia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suo
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Suo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016786:Eimeria tenella; D058501:Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism*; D033661:Oocysts; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma