Inhibition of Eimeria tenella Development in vitro Mediated by Chicken Macrophages and Fibroblasts Treated with Chicken Cell Supernatants with IFN-g Activity

Abstract

Pretreatment of chicken macrophages or fibroblasts with supernatants from concanavalin A-stimulated spleen cells or from the virus-transformed cell line reticuloendotheliovirus as source of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) slows down subsequent sporozoite replication in the cells. To identify the presence of IFN-gamma, we combined four typical activities of IFN-gamma: inhibition of cytopathic effect of vesicular stomatitis virus on IFN-gamma-treated fibroblasts, cytostatic activity of IFN-gamma-activated macrophages, induction of major histocompatibility complex II antigen expression on IFN-gamma-activated fibroblasts and macrophages, and induction of nitrite production in macrophages. We have shown that chicken fibroblasts and macrophages possess a microbiostatic capacity once they are able to prevent the otherwise unchecked intracellular replication of Eimeria tenella following activation with culture supernatants identified as containing a strong IFN-gamma activity.