Effects of Mycoplasma gallisepticum vaccination on serum α1-acid glycoprotein concentrations in commercial layer chickens.

Increases in circulating acute phase protein (APP) levels occur in reaction to systemic infections in animals. However, no previous research has been conducted to monitor possible changes in APP levels of birds in response to prelay vaccinations of various live attenuated Mycoplasma gallisepticum vaccines in conjunction with their subsequent use as an overlay vaccine during the production period. Serum concentrations of the APP, α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), were determined on d 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 after subjecting commercial laying hens to one of the following treatments at 10 wk of age (woa): 1) control (no vaccination); 2) ts-11 strain M. gallisepticum (ts11MG) vaccination; 3) M. gallisepticum-bacterin (MGBac) vaccination; and 4) ts11MG and MGBac combination (ts11MG & MGBac) vaccination. Furthermore, at 45 woa, the birds in half of the units assigned to each treatment group were vaccinated with high-passage F-strain M. gallisepticum (HpFMG). Birds in treatment 1 that were (single control) and were not (double control) vaccinated with HpFMG, and birds in treatments 2, 3, and 4 that were vaccinated with HpFMG were further tested during lay on d 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 after vaccination. On d 7, 14, and 28 postvaccination at 10 woa, the ts11MG & MGBac, ts11MG, and MGBac group AGP concentrations were not different from one another, but all were higher than those in the control group. Similarly, on d 3, 7, and 14 postvaccination, the single control, and the MGBac ts11MG, and ts11MG & MGBac treatment groups that were later vaccinated with HpFMG at 45 woa, were not different, but all were higher than that in the double control group. In conclusion, elevated circulation AGP concentrations may be used to detect and confirm subclinical infections in pullets up to 28 d after having been vaccinated with ts11MG, MGBac, or their combination. Furthermore, in association with depressed performance, elevated serum AGP concentrations in layers may be used to confirm HpFMG infections up to 28 d after its use as a vaccine.