Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jan;84(1):52-59.

Differences in the relative counts of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in various age groups of pigs

Olga Pietrasina  1 , Julia Miller  1 , Anna Rząsa  1
Affiliations

Differences in the relative counts of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in various age groups of pigs

Olga Pietrasina et al. Can J Vet Res. 2020 Jan.

Abstract
in English, French

The aim of the study was to determine age-related changes in peripheral blood lymphocytes in pigs. Previous studies looking at age-related differences in lymphocyte subsets in porcine blood have not established reference ranges for these parameters. Moreover, most studies have concentrated on the dynamic changes in the first months of life, failing to continue observations in older animals. Therefore, in the present study, relative counts of various lymphocyte subpopulations (cytotoxic and helper T-cells, B-cells, and γδ T-cells) were evaluated to characterize the development of the cellular immune system at 28, 35, 135, and 200 days of age in growing pigs and adult sows (i.e., first and subsequent parity). In all examined groups, CD3+ cells constituted the largest percentage of cells. A statistically significant higher percentage of TCRγδ+CD3+ was noted in fatteners and gilts in comparison to other age groups. These results may be a reflection of antigenic pressure and show an immune response to viral or bacterial agents/environmental microbism.

L’objectif de la présente étude était de déterminer les changements associés à l’âge dans les lymphocytes du sang périphérique chez les porcs. Des études antérieures examinant les différences associées à l’âge dans les sous-populations de lymphocytes dans le sang porcin n’ont pas établi des écarts de référence pour ces paramètres. De plus, la plupart des études se sont concentrées sur les changements dynamiques dans les premiers mois de vie, omettant de continuer les observations chez les animaux plus âgés. Ainsi, dans la présente étude, les dénombrements relatifs des différentes sous-populations lymphocytaires (cellules-T cytotoxiques et helper, cellules-B, et cellules-T γδ) furent évalués afin de caractériser le développement du système immunitaire cellulaire à 28, 35, 135, et 200 jours d’âge chez des porcs en croissance et des truies adultes (i.e. première parité ainsi que les suivantes). Dans tous les groupes examinés, les cellules CD3+ constituaient le pourcentage le plus élevé de cellules. Un pourcentage significativement plus élevé de TCRγδ+CD3+ était noté chez les porcs en croissance et les cochettes comparativement aux autres groupes d’âge. Ces résultats pourraient être un reflet de la pression antigénique et montre une réponse immunitaire à des agents viraux ou bactériens du microbisme environnemental.(Traduit par Docteur Serge Messier).

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Gating strategy for the evaluation of basic lymphocyte subpopulations (CD3+, CD21+, and T γδ+ cells). The frequency of cells is expressed as a percentage of positive cells in a lymphocyte gate.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Gating strategy for the evaluation of T-helper and T-cytotoxic cells. The frequency of cells is expressed as a percentage of positive cells in gated CD3+ cells.
Figure 3
Figure 3
a — Representative dot plots showing the percentage of T γδ+ cells in model samples obtained from animals in different age groups. b — Percentage of CD3 + TCR γδ+ lymphocytes.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean percentage of T-cell subsets in different age groups (mean ± SD).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Representative dot plots showing the expression of CD4 and/or CD8 in model samples obtained from animals in different age groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Becker BA, Misfeldt ML. Evaluation of the mitogen-induced proliferation and cell surface differentiation antigens of lymphocytes from pigs 1 to 30 days of age. J Anim Sci. 1993;71:2073–2078. - PubMed
    1. Rothwell L, Gramzinski RA, Rose ME, Kaiser P. Avian coccidiosis: Changes in intestinal lymphocyte populations associated with the development of immunity of Eimeria maxima. Parasite Immunol. 1995;17:525–533. - PubMed
    1. Comans-Bitter WM, de Groot R, van den Beemd R, et al. Immunophenotyping of blood lymphocytes in childhood. Reference values for lymphocyte subpopulations. J Pediatr. 1997;130:388–393. - PubMed
    1. Winnicka A, Kluciński W, Kawiak J, et al. Lymphocyte subpopulations, null cells and MHC II positive cells in peripheral blood of goats at different ages. Small Rumin Res. 1999;33:247–253.
    1. Faldyna M, Levá L, Knötigová P, Toman M. Lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of dogs — A flow cytometric study. Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2001;82:23–37. - PubMed