Differences in macrophage functions between broiler chicken lines against Salmonella enteritidis

In this experiment two commercial broiler chicken lines were used, line E1 and line E4, to find variation between the lines in their natural resistance against Salmonella enteritidis (SE) infections. At various time points after oral infection with SE the macrophage functions, the cellular and humoral immune responses were determined. Further more, the number of SE that was carried by the chicken in the caeca, liver and spleen were determined. The macrophage functions of both lines differed per test day, the nitric oxide production significant and phagocytose assay non-significantly. Finally the cellular and the humoral immune response of E1 chicken was significantly higher compared to E4 chicken. The amount of SE in the caeca was significantly higher in line E1 compared to line E4 for each test day. In contrast the amount of SE in liver and spleen was higher in line E4 compared to E1. These results suggest that a strong cellular immune response as seen in E1 line chicken may be able to prevent systemic SE infection