Can Immune Response Mechanisms Explain the Fecal Shedding Patterns of Cattle Infected with Mycobacterium avium Subspecies paratuberculosis?

ABSTRACT: Johne's disease (JD) is a chronic disease in ruminants and is caused by infection with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). At late stages of the disease, MAP bacilli are shed via feces excretion and in turn create the potential for oral-fecal transmission. The role of the host immune response in MAP bacteria shedding patterns at different stages of JD is still unclear. We employed mathematical modeling to predict if the variation in MAP shedding could be correlated to the immune response in infected animals. We used a novel inverse modeling approach that assumed biological interactions among the antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation response (cell-mediated response), antibody/humoral immune responses, and MAP bacteria. The modeling framework was used to predict and t

SUBMITTER: Magombedze G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4725749 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature