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Title: MHC (SLA) CLASS 1 ANTIGEN PHENOTYPE AND RESISTANCE TO T. SPIRALIS INFECTION IN SWINE: A POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIP

Author
item BUGARSKI, DIANA - INEP
item CUPERLOVIC, K - INEP
item Lunney, Joan

Submitted to: Acta Veterinaria
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/17/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Prevention of foodborne parasitic diseases is a major interest of pork producers worldwide. Effective management of animals indoors can almost completely prevent the disease, yet animals that remain outdoors, and have access to wildlife sources of the disease, may still be susceptible. This is particularly important in countries like Yugoslavia where this study was conducted. In this manuscript the possibility of identifying pigs which are genetically resistant to Trichinella spiralis infection was explored. Pigs were identified genetically using monoclonal antibodies, developed in our laboratories, which identify different swine leukocyte antigens (SLA). Pigs which expressed one particular SLA type (2.12.3 positive) were more likely to resist a Trichinella spiralis infection. This data sets the stage for more detailed analyses of genes which control natural resistance to this important foodborne infection and may help producers select future breeders which bear this resistance gene.

Technical Abstract: A possible relationship between parasite specific immune response and swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) class 1 phenotype was investigated in outbred domestic swine experimentally infected with Trichinella spiralis. The immune response was monitored by analyzing the changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cell subsets, the development of a humoral anti-parasite response and muscle larvae (ML) burden. Potentially important differences in the capacity to resist the infection were seen in swine whose cells express the determinant recognized by monoclonal antibody (mAb), 2. 12. 3; this mAb reacts with an allele of the swine major histocompatibility, or SLA, complex class 1 antigen. The frequency of pigs which express the 2. 12. 3 phenotype in two Yugoslav swine breeds was 0.56 and 0.33. Evidence suggests that 2. 12.3-positive swine exhibit a lower burden of T. spiralis muscle larvae in tongue and/or diaphragm, as well as a delayed development of an antibody response to T. spiralis ML excretory-secretory antigens, after a low level primary infection. These results indicate a genetic basis for resistance to primary T. spiralis inoculation. Further experiments will be necessary to confirm whether such a linkage can be established; this would facilitate selection and identification of T. spiralis resistant swine for breeding and prophylactic purposes.