Abstract
We investigated the adjuvant effect of cholera toxin (CT) on the intestinal and systemic immune systems of chickens. The CT was given orally, mixed with a non-replicating antigen, a recombinant Eimeria protein, 1PE1, or with a replicating one, Eimeria tenella parasite. There were increases in the specific IgA and IgG responses to the recombinant protein 1PE1, with a significant anti-1PE1 IgG response in the duodenum ( p<0.05) and caecum ( p<0.05) 4 weeks after immunization and a specific IgA ( p<0.05) response in the duodenum after 3 weeks. A transient anti-1PE1 IgG ( p<0.05) response was detected in the serum 1 week post-injection and an IgA response ( p<0.05) at 2 weeks. CT given with the replicative parasite caused no change in the intestinal and systemic immune responses with 1 or 3 immunizations although a specific antiparasitic in vitro proliferation of the spleen cells from infected chickens was observed. Nevertheless, 0.05 mg CT given per os to chickens was strongly immunogenic in both experiments. A strong serum IgG ( p<0.01) response was detected as soon as 1 week after the end of the immunization protocol with 1PE1 and 2 weeks after infection with E. tenella. Strong anti-CT IgG responses were also detected by the second week post-immunization in the duodenum and caeca ( p<0.01). Hence, CT can be used as a mucosal adjuvant in chickens to improve the intestinal immune response.
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