Dietary Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 and zinc oxide stimulate immune reactions to trivalent influenza vaccination in pigs but do not affect virological response upon challenge infection.
Swine influenza viruses (SIV) regularly cause significant disease in pigs worldwide. Since there is no causative treatment of SIV, we tested if probiotic Enterococcus (E.) faecium NCIMB 10415 or zinc (Zn) oxide as feed supplements provide beneficial effects upon SIV infection in piglets. Seventy-two weaned piglets were fed three different diets containing either E. faecium or different levels of Zn (2500 ppm, Zn(high); 50 ppm, Zn(low)). Half of the piglets were vaccinated intramuscularly (VAC) twice with an inactivated trivalent SIV vaccine, while all piglets were then infected intranasally with H3N2 SIV. Significantly higher weekly weight gains were observed in the E. faecium group before virus infection, and piglets in Zn(high) and E. faecium groups gained weight after infection while those in the control group (Zn(low)) lost weight. Using ELISA, we found significantly higher H3N2-specific antibody levels in the E. faecium+VAC group 2 days before and at the day of challenge infection as well as at 4 and 6 days after challenge infection. Higher hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers were also observed in the Zn(high)+VAC and E. faecium+VAC groups at 0, 1 and 4 days after infection. However, there were no significant differences in virus shedding and lung lesions between the dietary groups. Using flow cytometry analysis significantly higher activated T helper cells and cytotoxic T lymphocyte percentages in the PBMCs were detected in the Zn(high) and E. faecium groups at single time points after infection compared to the Zn(low) control group, but no prolonged effect was found. In the BAL cells no influence of dietary supplementation on immune cell percentages could be detected. Our results suggest that feeding high doses of zinc oxide and particularly E. faecium could beneficially influence humoral immune responses after vaccination and recovery from SIV infection, but not affect virus shedding and lung pathology.
Institut für Virologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Zhenya
Z
Wang
Institut für Virologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Michael
M
Burwinkel
Institut für Virologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Weidong
W
Chai
Abteilung für experimentelle Tierhaltung und Biosicherheit, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
Elke
E
Lange
Institut für Immunologie, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
Ulrike
U
Blohm
Abteilung für experimentelle Tierhaltung und Biosicherheit, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany ; Institut für Veterinärpathologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Angele
A
Breithaupt
Institut für Virusdiagnostik, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
Bernd
B
Hoffmann
Molekularbiologie und Bioinformatik, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Sven
S
Twardziok
Institut für Veterinäranatomie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Juliane
J
Rieger
Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, Abteilung für Biologische Sicherheit, Fachgruppe für Molekulare Diagnostik und Genetik, Berlin, Germany.
Pawel
P
Janczyk
Institut für Tierernährung, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Robert
R
Pieper
Institut für Virologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Nikolaus
N
Osterrieder
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D001831:Body Temperature; D004032:Diet; D004285:Dogs; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects; D056724:Immunity, Humoral / Q000187:drug effects; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D061985:Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D014611:Vaccination; D017201:Virus Shedding / Q000187:drug effects; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D015034:Zinc Oxide