Genetic Variation in the Recruitment and Activation of Chicken Peritoneal Macrophages

Genetic variation in the ability to recruit and activate peritoneal macrophages was examined in seven partially developed 15I5-B congenic White Leghorn chicken lines. While the ability to generate peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) was similar in all lines, major differences were observed in the numbers, composition, and functional activity of harvestable peritoneal adherent cell populations. In response to a general stimulant, Sephadex, lines .7-2 and .6-2 produced the greatest numbers of adherent peritoneal cells while lines .C-12 and .15I-5 were among the poorest responders. Macrophage percentage of adherent PECs varied between lines. 15I5 chickens produced a consistently high percentage of adherent macrophages while .6-2 birds exhibited the lowest macrophage percentage at all ages examined. Phagocytosis was used as one measure of the level of macrophage activation and similar results were obtained using both opsonized and unopsonized sheep erythrocytes; adherent peritoneal cells from lines .6-2, .7-2, and .P-13 exhibited the highest activity and .C-12, .15I-5, and background 15I5 (B15) lines produced cells with the lowest phagocytic activity. In a second functional assay, the killing of Salmonella typhimurium, macrophage-rich cells from line .P-13 exhibited the lowest activity which was significantly lower than that obtained with cells from lines .6-2 and .15I-5. Antigen-specific stimulation of peritoneal adherent cells by ferritin also showed that .C-12 was a low responder in contrast with other lines. The results indicate that these genetic lines differ in peritoneal macrophage function and suggest that the chicken major histocompatibility complex may influence certain properties of chicken macrophage function.