Kinetics of interleukin-2 production in chickens infected with Eimeria tenella

Interleukin (IL)-2 is a major cytokine of cell-mediated immunity (CMI). Because chickens infected with Eimeria, the causative agent of coccidiosis, develop a robust cell-mediated response against the parasite, we measured IL-2 concentrations in vivo and in vitro during the course of primary and secondary experimental Eimeria tenella infections. IL-2 levels in serum and culture supernatants of spleen lymphocytes stimulated with mitogen or E. tenella sporozoites were significantly increased on day 7 post-primary infection compared with control group. This peak in IL-2 coincided with the time of maximum intestinal lesions as measured by cecum lesion scores. By contrast, during secondary infection highest IL-2 concentrations preceded intestinal lesions by 5 days (day 2 versus day 7, respectively). These results confirmed that IL-2 production is augmented during experimental coccidiosis and suggested that cellular immunity elicited during an anamnestic response to parasite reinfection is mediated, at least in part, by IL-2.