Evaluation of chicken heterophil adherence

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Immunology
• Avian Pathology

Background:

• Chicken heterophils are crucial innate immune cells.
• Accurate assessment of heterophil function is vital for diagnosing avian diseases.
• Existing methods for evaluating heterophil adherence require optimization for sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the optimal conditions for evaluating chicken heterophil adherence.
• To identify the best nylon fiber column weight and incubation temperature for sensitive detection of adherence changes.
• To compare the efficacy of sodium heparin and ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) as anticoagulants.

Main Methods:

• Chicken whole blood was anticoagulated with either sodium heparin or EDTA.
• Heterophil adherence was tested using nylon fiber columns of varying weights (50-125 mg) at different temperatures (37°C and 41°C).
• Paired t-tests were used to compare adherence between different anticoagulants.

Main Results:

• At 37°C, mean heterophil adherence increased with column weight: 76% (75 mg), 92% (100 mg), and 97.4% (125 mg).
• At 41°C, adherence was 27% (50 mg) and 85% (75 mg).
• EDTA resulted in significantly lower heterophil adherence compared to heparin.

Conclusions:

• The 75-mg nylon fiber column incubated at 37°C with sodium heparin-anticoagulated blood provides the most sensitive method for detecting alterations in chicken heterophil adherence.
• This optimized method can aid in the early detection of immune dysfunction in poultry.
• Sodium heparin is the preferred anticoagulant for this assay.