Effects of microbial stimulation on the number, size and activity of bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) structures in the pig.

The development of bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) was investigated in the pig, which is a species in which BALT is not found constantly. Different routes of contact with a specifically lung-pathogen bacterium Actinobacillus (Haemophilus) pleuropneumoniae were tested. Pigs, selected by bacteriological screening methods and the number of granulocytes in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), were infected by aerosol. They were compared to previously enterally immunized pigs using active and inactivated bacteria. The development of BALT after the infection was compared to that in pigs with a single enteral, or no, contact with the bacterium. BALT was less frequent in these groups than in the infected pigs. Previously immunized pigs developed the highest number and the largest BALT with the most prominent morphological signs of activation. Immunization with living or inactivated bacteria did not cause histological differences. BALT was preferentially located around bronchioli and small bronchi. Additional BALT predominantly occurred in the walls of larger bronchi. Definite compartments of T and B lymphocytes were not found in immunohistological studies of BALT. It was concluded that the development of BALT can be induced by different modes of microbial stimulation.