Immunosuppressive effects of experimental infection with Plasmodium gallinaceum.

Experimental infection of chickens with P. gallinaceum mardedly suppressed the splenic PFC response to SRBC. Suppression was most pronounced when birds were immunized at the time of peak parasitemia. The PFC response to E. coli LPS was of low magnitiude in both normal and infected chickens; however, it, too, was suppressed in infected birds, but not to the same degree as observed in response to SRBC. Cellular immunity as evidenced by allograft rejection was not influenced by infection.