Nuove conoscenze ed aspetti applicativi per lo studio dell'immunità mucosale nella specie suina: un modello sperimentale

Abstract

In 2017, the WHO issued guidelines to ensure the responsible use of antibiotics in farms in order to face the growing phenomenon of antibiotic resistance, including the adoption of strategies aimed at improving animal productivity by modulating the immune response and intestinal function. As a matter of facts the gastrointestinal tract is daily exposed to environmental antigens and it is one of the main sites of infection by external bacterial or viral pathogens. An optimal immune reaction involves coordination between inflammatory response, white line cell activation and cytokine synthesis for which cooperation between immune and non-immune cells is required. The aim of this study was to detect changes in the gene expression of pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory cytokines, structural and antimicrobial proteins by porcine intestinal epithelial cells IPEC-J2 when stimulated by activated immune cells and in absence of arginine using Real-Time PCR. While the integration of arginine in animal feed facilitates the activation of immune cells and it increases the ability to fight enteric infections, the presence of activated immune cells was necessary to mimic inflammation. The IPEC-J2 cell line represents an excellent model for studying the defensive mechanisms put in place by the intestinal mucosal epithelium. However further experiments and in-depth studies are needed to better understand how epithelial cells cooperate with inflammatory cells to orchestrate the defensive response in the gut.