Lovland Atle, Kaldhusdal Magne, Reitan Liv Jorun
National Veterinary Institute, P.O. Box 8156 Dep, N-0033 Oslo, Norway.
Avian Pathol. 2003 Oct;32(5):527-34. doi: 10.1080/0307945031000154134.
The tools available for monitoring necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens in broiler chickens have been limited, particularly for identifying subclinical disease. In this study, a modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantify levels of specific immunoglobulin G to C. perfringens alpha-toxin in serum from broilers. We found significantly higher antibody levels in broilers with a history of subclinical necrotic enteritis compared with a zinc-bacitracin-treated group with a low level of gut lesions. Furthermore, in 4.5-week-old commercial broiler flocks, there was an association between the occurrence of C. perfringens-associated hepatitis at slaughter and the immune response to alpha-toxin. Practical solutions for defining cut-off levels for positive serum samples at individual and flock levels are proposed, and were found to be useful on a set of samples available from flocks with different histories regarding the occurrence of C. perfringens-associated disease. This serological approach seems promising as a diagnostic tool in research and disease monitoring regarding C. perfringens-associated disease.
用于监测肉鸡中由产气荚膜梭菌引起的坏死性肠炎的工具一直有限，尤其是在识别亚临床疾病方面。在本研究中，一种改良的酶联免疫吸附测定法被用于定量肉鸡血清中针对产气荚膜梭菌α毒素的特异性免疫球蛋白G的水平。我们发现，有亚临床坏死性肠炎病史的肉鸡的抗体水平显著高于肠道病变程度低的杆菌肽锌治疗组。此外，在4.5周龄的商业肉鸡群中，屠宰时产气荚膜梭菌相关性肝炎的发生与对α毒素的免疫反应之间存在关联。本文提出了在个体和群体水平上定义血清阳性样本临界值的实用解决方案，并发现这些方案对于一组来自具有不同产气荚膜梭菌相关性疾病发生史鸡群的样本很有用。这种血清学方法作为产气荚膜梭菌相关性疾病研究和疾病监测中的诊断工具似乎很有前景。
