Differential Influence of Seabuckthorn on the In vivo and In vitro Cell-Mediated Immune Responses in Chickens with Gumboro Disease

Objective/Purpose: The study intended to clarify the restoring effects of an alcoholic seabuckthorn extract on the cell-mediated immunity in chickens with Gumboro disease. Material and Methods: Graft rejection was performed in vivo on healthy, Gumboro virus infected and convalescent chickens, by injecting 0.1 ml of a sheep lymphocyte suspension (5x106 cells/ml) mixed 1:1 with either saline or an alcoholic seabuckthorn extract. Wattle thickness was measured before and 24, 48 and 72 hours post injection and rejection indices were calculated. An in vitro blast transformation test was carried out on heparinized blood samples from the three groups. Blast transformation indices were calculated after 48 h at 37ºC, for PHA M and seabuckthorn treated cultures, by glucose concentration measurements. The statistical significance of the differences was interpreted by Student’s t-test. Results & Discussion: The wattle thickness decreased from 24 onwards in all categories, while seabuckthorn increased the wattle response the most in healthy (40 ± 0.43mm) and the least (19.03 ± 0.11) in diseased chickens (p<0.01-0.001), which also showed the strongest inhibitory activity during blast transformation (-1.5 ±2.7%). Conclusion: The in vivo cell-mediated immune response seemed more fit than the in vitro test to evaluate the immunological role of alcoholic seabuckthorn extracts.