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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2001, p. 3951-3957, Vol. 67, No. 9
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.9.3951-3957.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Prevalence, Antigenic Specificity, and Bactericidal Activity of Poultry Anti-Campylobacter Maternal Antibodies

Orhan Sahin,1,2,dagger Qijing Zhang,1,2,* Jerrel C. Meitzler,1 Brian S. Harr,2 Teresa Y. Morishita,2 and R. Mohan3

Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio 446911; Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 432102; and Ohio Department of Agriculture, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 430683

Received 5 December 2000/Accepted 23 June 2001

Poultry are considered the major reservoir for Campylobacter jejuni, a leading bacterial cause of human food-borne diarrhea. To understand the ecology of C. jejuni and develop strategies to control C. jejuni infection in the animal reservoir, we initiated studies to examine the potential role of anti-Campylobacter maternal antibodies in protecting young broiler chickens from infection by C. jejuni. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the prevalence of anti-C. jejuni antibodies in breeder chickens, egg yolks, and broilers from multiple flocks of different farms were examined. High levels of antibodies to the organism were detected in serum samples of breeder chickens and in egg yolk contents. To determine the dynamics of anti-Campylobacter maternal antibody transferred from yolks to hatchlings, serum samples collected from five broiler flocks at weekly intervals from 1 to 28 or 42 days of age were also examined by ELISA. Sera from the 1-day and 7-day-old chicks showed high titers of antibodies to C. jejuni. Thereafter, antibody titers decreased substantially and were not detected during the third and fourth weeks of age. The disappearance of anti-Campylobacter maternal antibodies during 3 to 4 weeks of age coincides with the appearance of C. jejuni infections observed in many broiler chicken flocks. As shown by immunoblotting, the maternally derived antibodies recognized multiple membrane proteins of C. jejuni ranging from 19 to 107 kDa. Moreover, in vitro serum bactericidal assays showed that anti-Campylobacter maternal antibodies were active in antibody-dependent complement-mediated killing of C. jejuni. Together, these results highlight the widespread presence of functional anti-Campylobacter antibodies in the poultry production system and provide a strong rationale for further investigation of the potential role of anti-C. jejuni maternal antibodies in protecting young chickens from infection by C. jejuni.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Food Animal Health Research Program, Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, 1680 Madison Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691. Phone: (330) 263-3747. Fax: (330) 263-3677. E-mail: zhang.234{at}osu.edu.

dagger Permanent address: Department of Microbiology, Veterinary Faculty, Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, Turkey.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2001, p. 3951-3957, Vol. 67, No. 9
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.9.3951-3957.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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