Delayed development of humoral immunity in chickens following in ovo treatment with mibolerone.

In order to determine if mibolerone causes rapid development of the humoral immune system as previously hypothesized, 12-day-old chicken embryos were injected with 0.1, 1, or 10 micrograms mibolerone. Mibolerone caused bursal atrophy in a dose-dependent manner with severe atrophy at the 10 micrograms dose, substantial atrophy at the 1 microgram dose, and very little or no atrophy at the 0.1 microgram dose. Mibolerone-treated chicks were subsequently challenged with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and Brucella abortus at 1, 7, 14, or 21 days of age. When serum samples were analysed for agglutinins to SRBC and B. abortus, the results indicated that treated chickens had lower agglutinin titers to both antigens at younger ages. These responses improved with age in groups treated with 0.1 microgram and 1 microgram and were comparable to controls at 5 weeks of age except for low primary and secondary (IgG specific) titers to B. abortus in birds treated with 1 microgram. Chickens treated with 10 micrograms mibolerone still had considerably lower primary responses to SRBC and lower primary as well as secondary responses to B. abortus at 4 and 5 weeks of age. These results indicate that mibolerone causes delayed rather than rapid development of the humoral immune system. In control as well as in treated chickens, agglutinin responses to SRBC appeared earlier than responses to B. abortus.