Detection of Gamma Interferon and Some Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines in SPF Chicks Experimentally Infected with Chicken Anemia Virus

Chicken infectious anemia is one of the most economic immunosuppressive problems facing commercial poultry sector worldwide. Present study demonstrated the viral load in body organs and viral specific antibody titres of the SPF chicks experimentally infected with chicken anemia virus (CAV) strain CAV/Kal.2 and its contact group in vivo. Also, followed the emergence of lysozyme activity and nitric oxide (NO) levels, pro-inflammatory {IL-1β, IL-6 and CXCLi2 (IL-8 like chemokine)}, type I IFN (IFN-α and IFN-β) and IFN-γ cytokines. The obtained data illustrated that CAV-specific antibody development started after 7 days post infection (dpi) and reached its maximum level at 21 dpi in infected group and contact group. The CAV genome was detected in tissues of the chicks of both infected and contact groups at 7 dpi and continued for 21 dpi with 7 days intervals between sampling. Lysozyme activity and NO levels were greatly impaired in CAV infected chicks. The relative mRNA expression levels of most examined cytokines in the infected group were increased on 14 dpi compared to 7 and 21 dpi. On the other hand, CXCLi2 was generally not altered by CAV infection. The contact group showed undetermined changes in all examined cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, CXCLi2, IFN-α, IFN-β and IFN-γ). The obtained data revealed cytokine imbalances after infection with CAV as a result of hindrance of transcription of the most of the examined cytokines. As the immunosuppressive viruses of chickens may confuse with transcription for several cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IFN-α, IFN-β and IFN-γ), so we suggest using this confliction in order to evaluate the immune status of chickens