The effect of corticosteroid treatment on local immune responses, intake and performance in lambs infected with Teladorsagia circumcincta

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The nutritional cost of, and the sequential cellular changes associated with the developing immune response to the abomasal parasite Teladorsagia circumcincta were investigated using corticosteroid-induced immune-suppression. Six-month-old lambs with minimal nematode experience were either infected with 4000 L3 T. circumcincta per day (group IF), similarly infected and concurrently immune-suppressed with methylprednisolone acetate (group ISIF), immune-suppressed only (group IS) or remained as controls (group C). Food intake, faecal egg count (FEC) and antibody titres in plasma were recorded weekly, worm burden at necropsy on day 63 p.i. and body composition by X-ray computed tomography on days −2 and 62 p.i. Furthermore, sequential immunological changes at the site of parasite infestation in the abomasal mucosa were measured from serial biopsy tissue samples taken from additional animals that were fitted with an abomasal cannula and either infected with the same regime as IF animals above (group CnIF) or concurrently infected and immune-suppressed as above (group CnISIF). Corticosteroid treatment resulted in greater FECs (P<0.01) and worm burdens (P<0.01) in both ISIF and CnISIF compared with IF and CnIF sheep, respectively. Infection reduced feed intake by 17% between 14 and 28 days p.i. (P<0.05) and efficiency of energy utilisation by 20% (P=0.07) in IF animals but not in ISIF animals. Mast cells, globule leukocytes and IgA in tissue biopsy samples were elevated in CnIF from 42 days p.i., all of which were abrogated by corticosteroid treatment. The ability to regulate the worm population appeared to be associated with a rise in tissue IgA concentration and numbers of globule leucocytes (GL). The results support the hypothesis that a majority of the production losses that occur during infection of lambs with T. circumcincta in lambs are a consequence of the host immune response. These findings may have implications for regimes that promote the development of a strong host immune reaction to gastrointestinal parasites in lambs.