Effect of immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide, cyclosporin, or dexamethasone on Salmonella colonization of broiler chicks

One-day-old broiler chicks were divided into four groups: untreated controls and three groups treated with the immunosuppressive drugs cyclophosphamide, cyclosporin, or dexamethasone on days 1-4 of age. On day 5, all groups were challenged orally with 10(4) Salmonella typhimurium. Suppression of immunocompetency was demonstrated in the treatment groups by significant decrease (P less than 0.05) in weights of bursas of Fabricius, and diminished mitogen-induced T and B lymphocyte blastogenesis and cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity responses. There were no significant differences among the four groups in the number of Salmonella in the cecal contents or in the number of cecal-culture-positive chicks on day 10 post-challenge at 15 days of age. Results indicated that impairment of B or T lymphocyte responses had little influence on the resistance of young chicks to Salmonella cecal colonization.