Susceptibility of phagocytes from elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and domestic sheep to Pasteurella haemolytica cytotoxins.

Alveolar macrophages and peripheral blood neutrophils from elk (Cervus elaphus), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis), and domestic sheep were exposed to culture supernatants from Pasteurella haemolytica isolated from bighorn sheep and domestic sheep. In a second experiment, peripheral blood neutrophils from mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), elk, and bighorn sheep were exposed to culture supernatants from P. haemolytica isolated from elk, bighorn sheep and domestic sheep. Alveolar macrophages from elk, bighorn sheep and domestic sheep were resistant to killing by P. haemolytica supernatants from bighorn sheep and domestic sheep; susceptibility of neutrophils to cell death, as measured by release of lactate dehydrogenase, differed significantly (P < 0.05) between the four species tested. Bighorn sheep and domestic sheep neutrophils were susceptible to cytotoxin damage by the P. haemolytica isolates used; bighorn sheep neutrophils were four- to eight-fold more susceptible to cytotoxin damage than domestic sheep neutrophils. Neutrophils from deer and elk were resistant to killing by P. haemolytica cytotoxins from any species tested.