ARS | Publication request: CHARACTERIZATION OF THE HETEROPHIL, THE AVIAN NEUTROPHIL EQUIVALENT

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 5, 2004
Publication Date: April 5, 2004
Citation: Kaiser, P., Rothwell, L., Swaggerty, C.L., Ferro, P., Kogut, M.H. 2004. Characterization of the heterophil, the avian neutrophil equivalent [abstract]. Research in Veterinary Science. 76(Suppl. A):47.

Technical Abstract: Recognition of microbes by phagocytic cells is accompanied by the induction of multiple cell processes including the production of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) are vital cellular components of innate immunity, and function by killing pathogenic microbes following phagocytosis. Heterophils, the principal avian PMN equivalent to the mammalian neutrophil, function as professional phagocytes against bacterial infections, mediate acute inflammation, and respond to cytokine stimulation to aid in regulation of innate host defenses. We have investigated three phenomena: 1) the ability of heterophils to be primed by cytokines (priming of phagocytes is the potentiation of the activation process by previous exposure to a priming agent); 2) the ability of heterophils to produce cytokines following receptor-mediated phagocytosis of opsonized and non-opsonized Salmonella enteritidis, and thus to influence the local immune response; and 3) that differences in resistance to Salmonella infection in different lines of chickens may, at least in part, be explained by differences in the ability of their heterophils to produce cytokines.