Immunomodulatory effect of baculovirus in chickens: How it modifies the immune response against infectious bursal disease virus

Abstract

Several reports have shown that baculoviruses (BVs) have strong adjuvant properties on the mammalian immune system. Recent studies of our group demonstrated the ability of BV to stimulate the innate immunity in chickens. In this investigation, we aimed to assess the potential antiviral effect of BV given both, before and after infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). In the first case, specific pathogen free chickens were intravenously inoculated with 5 × 10(7) pfu of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus and 3 h later were orally administered 2.5 × 10(5) egg infectious doses 50 of IBDV. In the second case, chickens received IBDV 3 h before BV inoculation. Five days later, chickens were bled and euthanized. RNA from the bursa was analyzed for cytokine production. Also, bursae were used for virus recovery, and processed for lymphocyte isolation. The results showed that the administration of BV 3 h after the inoculation with IBDV produced important changes in the effect that IBDV causes in the bursa. BV reduced the infiltration of T lymphocytes, decreased the expression pattern of IL-6 and IFN-γ and inhibited IBDV replication. The results herein presented demonstrate that this Lepidopteran virus shows antiviral activity in chickens under experimental conditions. Investigations under field conditions have to be done to probe this strategy as a valuable sanitary tool for the treatment and prevention of chicken diseases.

Infection of Goose with Genotype VIId Newcastle Disease Virus of Goose Origin Elicits Strong Immune Responses at Early Stage

“…This result was similar to other reports which showed the correlation between high level of virus replication and intense inflammatory response caused by genotype VIId NDV in chickens and ducks ( Ecco et al, 2011 ; Rue et al, 2011 ; Rasoli et al, 2014 ; Hu et al, 2015 ; Kang et al, 2015 ). The present findings are also in agreement with the observations in chickens infected by other avian viruses, including avian influenza virus ( Lee et al, 2013 ; Guan et al, 2015 ), infectious bursal disease virus ( Chimeno et al, 2016 ), and laryngotracheitis virus ( Vagnozzi et al, 2016 ). Taken together, these results demonstrated that NDV infection induced strong innate immune responses and intense inflammatory responses at early stage in goose.…”

“…In this study, we selected IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-18 as indicators of antiviral and proinflammatory responses. These cytokines have been studied to understand the host immune response to a wide range of avian viruses and are important in infection control and virus clearance in birds ( Ecco et al, 2011 ; Rue et al, 2011 ; Lee et al, 2013 ; Rasoli et al, 2014 ; Guan et al, 2015 ; Kang et al, 2015 ; Chimeno et al, 2016 ). The cytokine gene analysis showed that NDV infection in geese increased expressions of IFN-γ, IL-8, and IL-18.…”