Production of alpha interferon in Cowdria ruminantium infected cattle and its effect on infected endothelial cell cultures

Cattle that resisted experimental heatntwater infection caused by the rickettsia #Cowdria ruminantium# produced significant levels of circulating alpha-interferon (IFN-alpha) whereas animals that died from heartwater did not. #In vitro#, recombinant bovine IFN.alpha) was found to significantly reduce the yield of #Cowdria# organisms in bovine endothelial cells, but even at a high concentration (1,000 U/ml), IFN-alpha did not completely prevent the growth of #Cowdria# organisms in these cells. This limited inhibitory effect of IFN-alpha is in agreement with the #in vivo# situation where an infectious process has to take place to induce a protective immune response. Our results suggest that IFN-alpha produced #in vivo# in response to #Cowdria# infection may represent an efficient way to slow down the infection and allow the animal to mount a protective immune response. IFN-alpha is the first endogenously produced factor shown to have anti-#Cowdria# activity.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Totté, Philippe, Jongejan, Frans, De Gee, A.L.W., Wérenne, John
Format:	article biblioteca
Language:	eng
Subjects:	L73 - Maladies des animaux, bovin, Ehrlichia ruminantium, interféron, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1391, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_34694, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3914,
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/389745/
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!