Oral antibiotics enhance antibody responses to keyhole limpet hemocyanin in orally but not muscularly immunized chickens

Abstract

Recent studies have emphasized the crucial role of gut microbiota in triggering and modulating immune response. We aimed to determine whether the modification of gut microbiota by oral co-administration of two antibiotics, ampicillin and neomycin, would lead to changes in the antibody response to antigens in chickens. Neonatal chickens were given or not given ampicillin and neomycin (0.25 and 0.5 g/L, respectively) in drinking water. At 2 weeks of age, the chicks were muscularly or orally immunized with antigenic keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), and then serum anti-KLH antibody levels were examined by ELISA. In orally immunized chicks, oral antibiotics treatment enhanced antibody responses (IgM, IgA, IgY) by 2-3-fold compared with the antibiotics-free control, while the antibiotics did not enhance antibody responses in the muscularly immunized chicks. Concomitant with their enhancement of antibody responses, the oral antibiotics also lowered the Lactobacillus species in feces. Low doses of antibiotics (10-fold and 100-fold lower than the initial trial), which failed to change the fecal Lactobacillus population, did not modify any antibody responses when chicks were orally immunized with KLH. In conclusion, oral antibiotics treatment enhanced the antibody response to orally exposed antigens in chickens. This enhancement of antibody response was associated with a modification of the fecal Lactobacillus content, suggesting a possible link between gut microbiota and antibody response in chickens.

Anticancer potential of bioactive peptides from animal sources

“…Keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) is a high-molecularweight copper-containing protein found in the hemolymph of the marine mollusk Megathura crenulata (80). This extracellular respiratory protein has many bioactive properties (81)(82)(83), including immunostimulatory, antitumor, and antimicrobial activity. Riggs et al and McFadden et al (84,85) have shown that KLh from the giant keyhole limpet significantly inhibits the growth of different cancer cells in vitro, including estrogendependent breast cancer cells (MCF-7), estrogen-independent breast cancer cells (ZR75-1), pancreatic cancer cells (PANC-1), prostate cancer cells (DU145), and Barrett's esophageal adenocarcinoma cells (SEG-1 and BIC-1).…”

Th2 and metabolic responses to nematodes are independent of prolonged host microbiota abrogation

“…Changes in gut microbiome caused by antibiotics have been shown to impact antibody responses 17–20 . We therefore additionally checked whether the continuous exposure of mice to antibiotic treatment had any significant impact on antigen‐specific IgE and IgG1 levels during the primary, memory, and secondary infection phase in SPF and Abx mice.…”

“…Changes in gut microbiome caused by antibiotics have been shown to impact antibody responses. [17][18][19][20] We therefore additionally checked whether the continuous exposure of mice to antibiotic treatment had any significant impact on antigen-specific IgE and IgG1 levels during the primary, memory, and secondary infection phase in SPF and Abx mice. Overall, we observed that HES-specific IgE and IgG1 levels were similar in both SPF and antibiotic treated mice in primary and secondary infections (Figure 4A,B).…”

Bioactive compounds, antibiotics and heavy metals: Effects on the intestinal structure and microbiome of monogastric animals – a non-systematic review

“…Therefore, many studies investigate how the use of antibiotics during the first weeks, post-hatch, affects the response in specific antibodies at later stages of the chickens' life. Antigenic keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) oral immunisation of two-week-old chicks receiving orally ampicillin and neomycin increased the production of antibody response (IgM, IgA, and IgY) two-or threefold compared to the control group, and the count of Lactobacillus in the chickens' feces decreased (Murai et al, 2016). The use of antibiotics temporarily disturbs the microbiological balance, and decreases the diversity and abundance of micro-organisms in the gastrointestinal tract.…”