Hemagglutinin responses in Japanese quail treated with exogenous adrenocorticotrophin

Agglutinin responses to Salmonella pullorum in Japanese quail selected for plasma cholesterol response to adrenocorticotropin and a model describing the dynamics of the response

Japanese quail from the S16 generation of lines selected for high (HR) and low (LR) plasma cholesterol response to adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), and the randombred control line (C) from which the selected lines had been derived, were immunized with a heat-killed Salmonella pullorum antigen. Plasma from blood samples taken at 0,5,8, and 12 days postimmunization was titered for total agglutinin levels. A quadratic equation and its first derivative, calculated for each bird, produced mean values by line for maximum titers, mean day of maximum titer, and rate of titer decline. Results indicated that the LR line had significantly lower titers than the HR or C lines but that the HR line reached maximum titer later than the LR line. The rate of titer decline was fastest in the C line.

Grouping in Japanese quail 2. Suppression of humoral immunity

Four-week-old Japanese quail were placed in either stable (isolate) or unstable (resident-visitor) groupings in this study. The visitor quail were transferred daily to cages containing unfamiliar residents, and the isolate quail were handled daily. The immune responsiveness to sheep red blood cells (SRBC), as indicated by production of hemagglutinins of the visitors and residents, was significantly less than that of the isolates, and the visitors were found to have less antibody than the residents. In subsequent experiments adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was used to compare its effect on immune responsiveness to that caused by grouping. The ACTH caused a suppression in humoral immune response, but only 8 IU ACTH/100 g body weight consistently suppressed antibody levels, indicating that the quail immune system is moderately resistant to this hormone. At the end of the experimental periods the bursa of Fabricius, spleen, and adrenal glands were removed. The relative weights of the organs suggested that grouping and ACTH did not induce the classical symptoms of physiological stress. However, stress was not eliminated as a possible cause of the immunosuppressive effects of grouping and ACTH found in this study, because there was significant body weight loss in unstable groupings and in ACTH-treated birds.