CONTAGIOUS AGALACTIA OF SHEEP AND GOATS: CHANGES INDUCED BY TREATMENT IN THE INNATE AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSES

Summary Contagious agalactia of small ruminants is a syndrome which mainly affects the mammary glands, joints and eyes but also alters the immune response of the affected animals. The study aimed to investigate the functional status of several immune effectors in sheep from a flock infected with M. agalactiae and the changes in functionality of these effectors following the therapeutic procedures. The research was carried out on 18, 2 to 8 years old sheep, both males and females, showing various lesions of agalaxia, to establish the changes induced by the treatment with antibiotics in total leukocyte counts (Turk method), phagocytosis (carbon particle inclusion test), blast transformation of leukocytes ( in vitro cultivation), total immune globulins (zinc sulfate precipitation test) as well as the levels of circulating immune complexes (CIC)(4.2% PEG precipitation test) and evaluate their role in healing. Blood samples were taken twice, at 18 days intervals, prior to and after the treatment. The results indicated a significant (p<0.01) decrease of total leukocytes, strongly correlated with the phagocytosis before, but not after the antibiotic treatment (r=0,492, p<0,01). Similarly, the stimulation indices were significantly (p<0.001) increased following the therapy, as opposed to the humoral immune effectors, total Ig and CIC. The results stressed the importance of cell/mediated immunity in healing during the antibiotic therapy.