B lymphocytes play a limited role in clearance of Campylobacter jejuni from the chicken intestinal tract.

ABSTRACT: Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of foodborne bacterial gastroenteritis with contaminated poultry meat its main source. Control of C. jejuni is a priority for the poultry industry but no vaccines are available and their development hampered by poor understanding of the immunobiology of C. jejuni infection. Here we show the functional role of B lymphocytes in response to C. jejuni in the chicken through depletion of the B lymphocyte population (bursectomy) followed by challenge. B lymphocyte depletion has little effect on bacterial numbers in the ceca, the main site of colonisation, where C. jejuni persist to beyond commercial slaughter age, but reduces clearance from the small intestine. In longer-term experiments we show antibody leads to reduction in C. jeuni numbers in the ceca

SUBMITTER: Lacharme-Lora L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5362810 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature