Induction, collection, and partial characterization of induced respiratory macrophages of the turkey

Respiratory macrophages (RM) of the turkey were elicited with a 1:4 (v/v) suspension of incomplete Freund's adjuvant in sterile phosphate-buffered saline injected directly into the abdominal air sacs. RM were purified by passage through a Ficoll-Hypaque gradient resulting in 95.7 +/- 5.9% purity and 94.8 +/- 12.3% viability. On days 7 and 9 postinjection, adequate numbers (7.15 +/- 5.47 X 10(6) macrophages per turkey) of RM for in vitro experiments were obtained. RM of the turkey demonstrated the ability to adhere to glass, phagocytize Zymosan A, and kill Escherichia coli in vitro.