Enhancement of phagocytosis and bacterial killing by heterophils from neonatal chicks after administration of Salmonella enteritidis-immune lymphokines

During the first week post-hatch, chickens demonstrate an increased susceptibility to infection by bacteria such as Salmonella. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of immune lymphokines on phagocytosis and killing activities of heterophils in chicks during the first 1-7 days of life. Lymphokines isolated from chicken splenic T-cells harvested from Salmonella enteriditis (SE)-hyperimmunized hens (SE-ILK), have in past experiments, demonstrated augmentation of heterophil activity in day-of-hatch chicks resulting in protection from SE organ invasion. The present experiments reveal significant increases (p<0.05) in heterophil phagocytosis and killing when comparing chicks treated with SE-ILK to control groups in vitro. In SE-ILK-treated groups, a two-fold or greater increase is noted in heterophil phagocytosis within I h of incubation as compared to controls. Heterophils isolated from 1-day-old and 4-day-old chicks treated with SE-ILK killed significantly greater numbers (p<0.05) of SE than heterophils isolated from control groups. By Day 7 post-hatch, significance is not noted in the killing activity of heterophils from treated groups when compared to control groups. However, heterophils from SE-ILK groups continue to kill greater numbers of SE than control groups. These data support SE-ILK augmentation results in an enhanced heterophil function in chicks during the greatest period of susceptibility to Salmonella invasion.