Tissue chambers — a useful model for in vivo studies of cytokine production in the pig

Abstract

An in vivo tissue chamber model was developed to enable studies of local cytokine production and cellular events during inflammatory and immune reactions in the pig. Tissue chambers made of sialistic rubber tubing were surgically implanted in the subcutaneous tissue- and samples of tissue chamber fluid (TCF) and inflammatory cells were collected by aspiration with a syringe. To evaluate the model for local cytokine production, two cytokine inducers, polyribinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid (poly I:C) and fixed Aujeszky's disease virus infected PK15 cells (ADV-PK15), were injected into the tissue chambers and samples of TCF were collected 0, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 h post injection. Poly I:C injections induced local production of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) as well as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the TCF but kinetic differences in the production of the cytokines were noted. Poly I:C also induced an increase in cell numbers in the TCF, mainly due to increased neutrophil numbers. Injections of ADV-PK15 induced local IFN-alpha production in the TCF as long as the pigs were serologically negative to ADV. Immunofluorescence and in situ hybridization techniques could be applied for characterization of TCF cells. Moreover, cells recovered from the tissue chambers were viable and could be used in functional in vitro tests. Taken together, this tissue chamber model could prove very useful in in vivo studies of inflammatory/immune responses and cytokine production in the pig.

Confirmation of QTL on porcine chromosomes 1 and 8 influencing leukocyte numbers, haematological parameters and leukocyte function

“…Subpopulations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from each individual were isolated from heparinized blood by centrifugation on Ficoll‐Paque (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). Indirect immunofluorescence labelling was performed as described by Wattrang et al. (1997).…”

Exudative epidermitis and porcine circovirus-2 infection in a Swedish SPF-herd

“…Some surviving pigs from the litters affected by EE were kept under SPF conditions and included in another study which also comprised pigs born in the SPF-herd the following year, i.e., 1994 (Wattrang et al, 1997). Cryopreserved (liquid N 2 ) samples of lymphnodes collected at euthanasia, from one of the EE pigs at 8 months of age and from one pig born in 1994 aged 10 months, were used for detection of PCV-2 DNA and virus isolation according to (Allan et al (2000c).…”

Aujeszky's disease virus: opportunities and challenges

“…The ADV model was also used to examine the kinetics of the immune response in porcine lymphoid tissues [5]. Infection with ADV was also utilized as a test case to demonstrate the utility of a tissue chamber model to examine in vivo the inflammatory/immune responses and cytokine production in the pig [57]. More recently we have performed detailed phenotypic analyses of the leukocytes attracted to the cerebrospinal fluid of pigs during a ADVinduced encephalitis.…”