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Porcine lactoferrin as feedstuff additive elevates avian immunity and potentiates vaccination

BioMetals volume 23, pages 579–587 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

In this study, recombinant porcine lactoferrin (PLF) was used as feedstuff additive to investigate the effects of peripheral lymphocyte proliferation and serum antibody titers in chickens vaccinated against the infectious bursal disease (IBD) virus. Treatment groups were fed three doses of PLF powder in their diet (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% w/w), and the IBD vaccine was administrated at 1 and 3 weeks of age. At 8, 12, and 16 weeks after vaccination, serum IBD antibody titers were measured via the micro-method and T cell proliferation rates were evaluated. The results revealed that a high dose of PLF led to significant increases in serum IgA, IgG and IBD-specific antibody titers (P < 0.05). PLF administration, at either low or high doses, enhanced the expression of IFN-γ and IL-12 in chicken T lymphocytes. These results suggest that PLF enhances cell-mediated immunity and augment the ability of IBD vaccination to strengthen subsequent anti-viral responses.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Jeffrey Conrad for critically reading the manuscript. This research was supported in part by Grant NSC-97-2313-B-005-012 from the National Science Council, and the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, Republic of China, under the ATU plan. We express our gratitude.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, No. 250, Kuo Kuang Road, 402, Taichung, Taiwan

    Che-Ming Hung, Ming-Fong Lin, Yi-Wen Lai, Yu-Tang Tung & Chuan-Mu Chen

  2. Department of Animal Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, 106, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shinn-Chih Wu

  3. China Medical University Hospital, 404, Taichung, Taiwan

    Chih-Ching Yen & Chuan-Mu Chen

  4. Department of Health, Taichung Hospital, 403, Taichung, Taiwan

    Ming-Fong Lin

  5. Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Da-Yeh University, 515, Changhwa, Taiwan

    Hsiao-Ling Chen

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  1. Che-Ming Hung
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  2. Shinn-Chih Wu
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  3. Chih-Ching Yen
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  4. Ming-Fong Lin
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  5. Yi-Wen Lai
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  6. Yu-Tang Tung
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  7. Hsiao-Ling Chen
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Correspondence to Hsiao-Ling Chen or Chuan-Mu Chen.

Additional information

Che-Ming Hung and Shinn-Chih Wu have equally contributed to this study.

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Hung, CM., Wu, SC., Yen, CC. et al. Porcine lactoferrin as feedstuff additive elevates avian immunity and potentiates vaccination. Biometals 23, 579–587 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-010-9321-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-010-9321-5

Keywords

  • Porcine lactoferrin
  • Lymphocyte proliferation
  • Serum antibody titer
  • Cytokine
  • Infectious bursal disease (IBD)
  • Vaccination