Authors : Mussarat Fatima, Celine Ster, Heidi Rempel, Brian G. Talbot, Kevin J. Allen, Francois Malouin and Moussa S. Diarra
Abstract: Cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP) is an intra-cellular bacterial signalling molecule previously shown to possess immune-stimulatory activities. However, the effects of this molecule on chicken immune responses have not been investigated. This study evaluated the humoral immune response following oral administration or Intra-Muscular injection (IM) of saline, 10 or 100 nmol c-di-GMP in conjunction with the Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV) vaccine S-706 in 96 broiler chickens. The oral vaccine and the test compounds were administrated at age 14 days and the chickens were then monitored until day 35. Blood samples were collected weekly from 8 birds per treatment to determine the antibody titers. Results showed that oral or IM administration of c-di-GMP did not induce any adverse effect in broiler chickens. Significant increases (p<0.05) in the total Immunoglobulin (Ig) A concentrations were observed regardless of the treatments as the birds aged. No significant effect was noted for total IgG and IgM concentrations after any of the sampling days immediately following administration of the compounds. However, on day 35, serum of birds orally administered with 10 and 100 nmol of c-di-GMP showed higher serum IgA antibody concentrations when compared to the serum of birds from the saline control (p<0.05) indicating that c-di-GMP stimulated IgA production in serum and confirming the potential of this molecule as a mucosal adjuvant. No significant effect on serum antivirus antibodies (IBDV infectious bronchitis virus, Newcastle disease virus and avian Reovirus) was observed for the 10 or 100 nmol c-di-GMP treatments. The results indicate that studies are warranted on the potential beneficial effects of c-di-GMP on broiler immunity.
Mussarat Fatima, Celine Ster, Heidi Rempel, Brian G. Talbot, Kevin J. Allen, Francois Malouin and Moussa S. Diarra, 2011. Effect of Co-Administration of 3',5'-Cyclic Diguanylic Acid with Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Vaccine on Serum Antibody Levels in Broilers. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 10: 3263-3268.