Abstract

White Leghorn chickens were inbred respectively from their parent lines, which were diversely selected for resistance (line 63) or susceptibility (lines 72 and 15I5) to Marek’s disease and lymphoid leukosis. The differences in disease resistance may have been due to differential regulation of immune and neuroendocrine homeostasis. At 5 wk of age, chickens from the same line were randomly assigned to cages at 4 birds per cage. Blood samples were collected from the chickens at 6 wk of age (n = 10/line). Subsets of T lymphocytes (CD4+ and CD8+) and B cells were measured using flow cytometry. Concentrations of plasma IgG and dopamine were quantified with ELISA and HPLC assay, respectively. Line 63 chickens had a higher percentage of CD8+ cells but not CD4+ cells than the chickens of the lines 72 and 15I5 (P < 0.01). In contrast, both lines 72 and 15I5 had a greater percentage of B cells (P < 0.01). The concentrations of plasma IgG and dopamine were also regulated differently among the lines; both were in an order of 72 > 15I5 > 63 (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). These results suggested that genetic selection for disease resistance also directly or indirectly modified the corresponding genetic components that govern the immune and neuroendocrine systems. The genetic lines of chickens may be used as animal models for investigation of the cellular mechanisms of genetic-environmental interactions on disease resistance.

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