Oligodeoxynucleotides containing CpG motifs upregulate bactericidal activities of heterophils and enhance immunoprotection of neonatal broiler chickens against Salmonella Typhimurium septicemia

In the past, we demonstrated that oligodeoxynucleotides containing CpG motifs (CpG-ODN) mimicking bacterial DNA, stimulate the innate immune system of neonatal broiler chickens and protect them against Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) septicemia. The first line of innate immune defense mechanism is formed by heterophils and plays a critical protective role against bacterial septicemia in avian species. Therefore, the objectives of this study were 1) to explore the kinetics of CpG-ODN mediated antibacterial mechanisms of heterophils following single or twice administration of CpG-ODN in neonatal broiler chickens and 2) to investigate the kinetics of the immunoprotective efficacy of single versus twice administration of CpG-ODN against S. Typhimurium septicemia. In this study, we successfully developed and optimized flow cytometry-based assays to measure phagocytosis, oxidative burst, and degranulation activity of heterophils. Birds that received CpG-ODN had significantly increased (p < 0.05) phagocytosis, oxidative burst, and degranulation activity of heterophils as early as 24 h following CpG-ODN administration. Twice administration of CpG-ODN significantly increased the phagocytosis activity of heterophils. In addition, our newly developed CD107a based flow cytometry assay demonstrated a significantly higher degranulation activity of heterophils following twice than single administration of CpG-ODN. However, the oxidative burst activity of heterophils was not significantly different between birds that received CpG-ODN only once or twice. Furthermore, delivery of CpG-ODN twice increased immunoprotection against S. Typhimurium septicemia compared to once but the difference was not statistically significant. In conclusion, we demonstrated enhanced bactericidal activity of heterophils after administration of CpG-ODN to neonatal broiler chickens. Further investigations will be required to identify other activated innate immune cells and the specific molecular pathways associated with the CpG-ODN mediated activation of heterophils.