Dynamics of lymphocyte subpopulation changes in the cecal tonsils of chickens infected with Salmonella enteritidis

Abstract

Salmonella enteritidis (SE)-induced changes in various T and B lymphocyte subpopulations in the cecal tonsils of chickens were analyzed using flow cytometry. At 1 day post-SE inoculation, the percentages of CD3 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes were significantly decreased in the group inoculated with 1×10 9 SE colony-forming units (CFU) (SE high) and in the group inoculated with 1×10 6 SE CFU (SE low) compared with the uninfected control group. The percentage of CD4 + T lymphocytes was significantly increased in the SE high group compared to the uninfected and the SE low groups at 4 days after SE inoculation. The percentage of IgG + B lymphocytes was also significantly increased in both SE high and low groups compared to the uninfected control at 6 days post-SE inoculation. In contrast, the SE low group showed significantly fewer IgM + B lymphocytes compared to the uninfected and SE high groups. These results show that SE infection induces significant changes in the cecal tonsil lymphocytes subpopulations shortly following SE inoculation.