aMPV infection of chicken and turkey tracheal organ cultures: comparison of virus-host interactions.

aMPV infection of chicken and turkey tracheal organ cultures: comparison of virus-host interactions. Avian Pathol. 2015 Sep 12;:1-26 Authors: Hartmann S, Sid H, Rautenschlein S Abstract Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) is a pathogen with worldwide distribution, which can cause high economic losses in infected poultry. aMPV mainly causes infection of the upper respiratory tract in both chickens and turkeys, although turkeys seem to be more susceptible. Little is known about virus-host interactions at epithelial surfaces after aMPV infection. Tracheal organ cultures (TOC) are a suitable model to investigate virus-host interaction in the respiratory epithelium. Therefore, we investigated virus replication rates and lesion development in chicken and turkey TOC after infection with a virulent aMPV subtype A strain. Aspects of the innate immune response, such as interferon (IFN) α and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression, as well as virus induced apoptosis were determined. The aMPV replication rate was higher in turkey (TTOC) compared to chicken TOC (CTOC) (P<0.05), providing circumstantial evidence that indeed turkeys may be more susceptible. The IFN α response was down-regulated two to 144 hours post infection in both species compared to virus free controls (P<0.05); this was more significant for CTOC than TTOC. iNOS expression was significantly up-regulated in aMPV-A-infected TTOC and CTOC compared to virus free co...
Source: Avian Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Avian Pathol Source Type: research