Protection of Chickens againstEscherichia coliInfections by DNA Containing CpG Motifs

Abstract

Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) containing CpG motifs (CpG-ODN) have been shown to be effective immunoprotective agents in murine models for a variety of viral, intracellular bacterial, and protozoan infections. Until now, the use of CpG-ODN to protect against extracellular bacterial infections has not been reported. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of CpG-ODN against cellulitis and colibacillosis in broiler chickens, using a well-established model. At 22 days of age, birds received CpG-ODN by either the subcutaneous or intramuscular route. Three days later, a virulent isolate of Escherichia coli was applied to a scratch site on the caudal abdominal skin. Birds were examined for 10 days after the E. coli challenge, and pathological and bacteriological assessments were conducted on all birds. The control group of birds receiving no CpG-ODN ( The identification of events and signals that can boost immune responses to pathogens has been an active area of investigation for many decades. These studies have led to the discovery of various immunomodulators, as well as the cytokine pathways that allow cellular communication to direct the immune response. Initial studies demonstrated that specific DNA sequences from Mycobacterium bovis were effective in stimulating the production of cytokines and activating natural killer cells (28). These complementary studies clearly indicated that bacterial DNA had immunomodulatory effects. Furthermore, these immunostimulatory properties of bacterial DNA were shown to be due mainly to a specific sequence of cytosinephosphodiester-guanine (CpG) motifs. They are present in the unmethylated state and occur at a higher frequency in bacterial DNA than in mammalian DNA (28). Other studies demonstrated that synthetic CpG-containing oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN) induce B-cell proliferation and immunoglobulin secretion, monocyte secretion of the Th1-like cytokines interleukin-12 and alpha, beta, and gamma interferons, and natural killer (NK) cell lytic activity

Effects of Glycyrrhizic Acid on Productive and Immune Parameters of Broilers

“…Encouraging results have been obtained in poultry production with the DNA-containing preparation CpG-ODN ® , and with a patented version of Aloe vera aqueous extract (Gomis, et al, 2003;Durrani, et al 2008). Another potentially useful immune-stimulating pharmaceutical preparation based on glycyrrhizic acid (GRA) has been used in human medicine.…”

Impact of CpG oligodeoxynucleotide stimulation on percentage of T and B cells in chicken

“…The synthetic class B CpG ODN 2007 and non ODN (Gomis et al 2003) were purchased from TIB Molbil, Synntheselabor mbH (Berlin, Germany), both possessing a phosphorothioate backbone. All the ligands used were re-suspended in sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS pH 7.4).…”

“…CpG ODNs are utilized for a variety of therapeutic purCorrespondence to: K. Chrząstek, e-mail: klaudia.chrzastek@up.wroc.pl, tel./fax: 0048 71 532 03 36 poses. Gomis et al (2003Gomis et al ( , 2004 demonstrated that prophylactic treatment of chickens with class B CpG ODN enhanced host immunity to numerous pathogens such as Escherichia coli. A number of reports regarding the effects of ODNs on chicken cells cultured in vitro (He et al 2003, 2006, Schwarz et al 2007 or as a vaccine adjuvant (Linghua et al 2007, Zhang et al 2008 have been published.…”

Immunostimulatory Sequence CpG Elicits Th1-Type Immune Responses in Inflammatory Skin Lesions in an Atopic Dermatitis Murine Model

“…IL-10 was likely derived from macrophages and monocytes, but not from plasmacytoid dendritic cells or T cells on the basis of the immunohistochemistry results. Local inflammatory reactions induced by CpG injections have been reported in several studies including in human skin [24,25,26]. The presence of localized cell recruitment is reported to be necessary for the immunoprotective effects of CpG against viral and bacterial infection since they are activated to produce IFN-α and IFN-γ [24, 25].…”