Changes in the Cytokine and Toll-Like Receptor Gene Expression Following Infection of Indigenous and Commercial Chickens With Infectious bursal disease virus

Abstract

A comparative study of cytokine and toll-like receptor (TLR) mRNA expression in 3 weeks old indigenous and commercial chickens infected with a very virulent strain of Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) was performed using a custom-made microarray chip. In uninfected indigenous chickens, the basal levels of interleukin (IL) 15 were lower and IL 16 was higher than their commercial counterparts. In the IBDV infected indigenous chickens, only IL16 gene expression was down regulated, while TLR3 expression was up regulated significantly. In the IBDV infected commercial chickens IL15, IL16 and TLR3 were down regulated. But, IL1-b, IL2, IL8, IL12, IL17, interferon (IFN)-a and b were significantly increased compared with the control. In IBDV infected indigenous chickens, IL15, IFN-c, beta-defensin and TLR3 were up regulated compared to virus-infected commercial chickens. The results suggested that up regulation of TLR3, a ligand for double-stranded (ds) RNA probably could account for the possible clinical resistance in these birds. There was a 5.2 fold difference by quantitative real-time RT-PCR between indigenous and commercial chickens in TLR3 mRNA expression. Therefore, TLR3, a receptor for dsRNA could be a putative molecule that could play a role in differential innate and adaptive immune responses to IBDV in commercial and indigenous chickens.

Strong inflammatory responses and apoptosis in the oviducts of egg-laying hens caused by genotype VIId Newcastle disease virus

“…In turn, these molecules trigger an appropriate immune response to eliminate the invading pathogens [21, 22]. In birds, the TLRs 3, 7, and 21 play major roles in the induction of antiviral IFN-β during such infections [23, 24]. In our study, the transcriptional levels of TLR3/7 were significantly increased post-NDV infection, suggesting the anti-NDV roles of these molecules.…”

Differential modulation of immune response and cytokine profiles in the bursae and spleen of chickens infected with very virulent infectious bursal disease virus

“…Based on previous report by Rauf et al [ 10 ], TLR3 reacted differently post-infected with different strains of IBDV where upregulation of TLR3 was recorded post-classical IBDV infection but in contrary downregulation was observed post-variant IBDV infection. Another study also indicated that response of TLR3 may play an important role in resistance of the indigenous chicken against vvIBDV infection [ 27 ]. mRNA expression levels of both MHC class I and II were upregulated, but only transiently, whereas IL-10 mRNA expression levels were unaltered from those in controls.…”

Infectious bursal disease virus suppresses H9N2 avian influenza viral shedding in broiler chickens

“…Therefore, we suggested that study of alterations in serum interleukin levels might aid understanding of the mechanism modulating interference between the two viral infections. Raj et al (2011) reported that serum levels of IL1-β, IL2, IL8, IL12, IL17, and interferon (IFN)-α and -β are significantly increased in commercial chickens infected with IBDV [19].…”