Ontogeny of the bovine immune response.

The ontogenesis of the bovine immune response was studied in three embryos (<40 days) and 106 fetuses of various ages. In the absence of overt antigenic stimulation, fetuses had lymphoid development of the thymus at 42 days of gestation, the spleen was structurally present at 55 days, and certain peripheral lymph nodes were present at 60 days. Mesenteric lymph nodes were structurally present by 100 days of gestation, and lymphoid tissue of the gastrointestinal tract, particularly the lower ileum, was observed in histologic sections of a 175-day fetus with a bacterial infection. Pyroninophilic cells, plasma cells, and germinal centers were present in lymph node sections of antigenically stimulated fetuses. Lymphoid tissue developed more rapidly in fetuses with bacteria, viral antigens, or apparent maternal red-blood-cell antigens than in the normal fetus. Thymic and splenic indices reached maximal values in the 205- to 220-day fetal age group. Immunoglobulin M (IgM)-containing cells were first observed, by immunofluorescence, in a single fetus at 59 days of gestation. Immunoglobulin G (IgG)-containing cells were observed at 145 days of gestation in one fetus with a bacterial and viral infection. IgM-containing cells were observed in 36 fetuses and IgM and IgG cells were present in seven fetuses. Spleen, lymph nodes, thymus, bone marrow, and liver of one fetus from a dam with lymphosarcoma had immunoglobulin-containing cells. Hemal lymph nodes, blood (buffy coat), Peyer patches, and heart and lung sections from fetuses with immunoglobulin-containing cells in spleen or lymph node did not have immunoglobulin-containing cells. Antigens of the virus of bovine virus diarrhea-mucosal disease (BVD) were detected in one fetus, and antigens of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus were detected in three fetuses; however, viruses were not isolated in primary bovine embryonic kidney cells. Two of the three fetuses with IBR virus antigens had neutralizing serum antibody titers to IBR virus. Bacteria including Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus sp. and Mima polymorpha var. oxidans were isolated from four fetuses. Antibodies that caused the agglutination of maternal red blood cells were present in 8 of 20 bovine fetal serum samples. The antibodies were 2-mercaptoethanol sensitive and partially heat resistant (56 C for 30 min). The ontogeny of the bovine immune response and human immune response were compared, and it was suggested that the similarities were primarily due to the two species having the same approximate gestation period of 280 days.