Systemic adjuvant effect of cholera toxin in the chicken.

Cholera toxin (CT) is a well-known mucosal adjuvant in mammals, but it does not give conclusive results in chickens. Cells from the chicken immune system may be insensitive to CT activity. Our results showed that intravenously administered CT had strong immunomodulatory effects on chicken antigen-specific T- and B-cell immune responses. Seven and eight days post-inoculation (p.i.), chickens immunized with KLH and CT exhibited a faster and higher specific proliferative response in the spleen after in vitro restimulation than chickens immunized with KLH alone. At the same time, the specific antibody response in serum was significantly higher, with a strong IgG enhancement and a peak of IgA in chickens immunized with KLH and CT. The anti-KLH splenic antibody response in vitro involved a significant increase in specific IgG and IgA isotypes when CT was used as adjuvant. In conclusion, as in mammals, systemic CT demonstrated strong adjuvant properties in chickens enhancing T-cell priming in vivo and, thus, leading to increased specific antibody production, including IgA.