Therapeutic and Prophylactic Use of Oral, Low-Dose IFNs in Species of Veterinary Interest: Back to the Future

Abstract

Cytokines are important molecules that orchestrate the immune response. Given their role, cytokines have been explored as drugs in immunotherapy in the fight against different pathological conditions such as bacterial and viral infections, autoimmune diseases, transplantation and cancer. One of the problems related to their administration consists in the definition of the correct dose to avoid severe side effects. In the 70s and 80s different studies demonstrated the efficacy of cytokines in veterinary medicine, but soon the investigations were abandoned in favor of more profitable drugs such as antibiotics. Recently, the World Health Organization has deeply discouraged the use of antibiotics in order to reduce the spread of multi-drug resistant microorganisms. In this respect, the use of cytokines to prevent or ameliorate infectious diseases has been highlighted, and several studies show the potential of their use in therapy and prophylaxis also in the veterinary field. In this review we aim to review the principles of cytokine treatments, mainly IFNs, and to update the experiences encountered in animals.

Reappraisal of PRRS Immune Control Strategies: The Way Forward

“…On the whole, as reported in a recent study of ours [ 87 ], the emerging picture in the PRRS model outlines unusual effector roles of adaptive immunity: both IgA Ab and cell-mediated immune responses (IFN-γ SCs) can coincide for a major modulation of macrophage permissiveness to PRRSV, as a foundation of disease control. Finally, immunomodulation by oral, low-dose IFN-alpha treatments has shown some efficacy vis-à-vis field PRRS outbreaks [ 4 ]; the peculiarities of this approach have been evaluated in a recent review paper of ours [ 111 ].…”

Activation of Antiviral Host Responses against Avian Influenza Virus and Remodeling of Gut Microbiota by rLAB Vector Expressing rIL-17A in Chickens

“…44 These shortfalls can be addressed by carefully tuning cytokine dosage and/or their effective delivery modalities. 45,46 To this end, growing experimental and clinical evidence suggests the benefits of using lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB), specially non-commensal L. lactis, as a promising alternative to other means of in vivo delivery of biological macromolecules, such as cytokines, primarily because of their intrinsic adjuvanticity and ability to withstand harsh gut environments. 47−49 The application of bioengineered L. lactis expressing several immunoregulatory factors, such as IL-10, IL-12, IL-35, IL-17A, and IFN-λ3 against viral or bacterial infections and autoimmune diseases, was reported with interesting outcomes in both avians and nonavian hosts.…”

“…However, due to the short biological half-life, bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of the externally administered cytokines remain the major limitations in achieving sustained cytokine effects in a complex gut environment . These shortfalls can be addressed by carefully tuning cytokine dosage and/or their effective delivery modalities. , To this end, growing experimental and clinical evidence suggests the benefits of using lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB), specially non-commensal L. lactis, as a promising alternative to other means of in vivo delivery of biological macromolecules, such as cytokines, primarily because of their intrinsic adjuvanticity and ability to withstand harsh gut environments. − The application of bioengineered L.…”