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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fayetteville, Arkansas » Poultry Production and Product Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308170
Title: Effect of butyrate on immune response of a chicken macrophage cell line

Author
item ZHOU, Z - Chongqing University
item PACKIALAKSHMI, B - University Of Arkansas
item MAKKAR, S - University Of Arkansas
item DRIDI, S - University Of Arkansas
item Rath, Narayan

Submitted to: Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/12/2014
Publication Date: 11/15/2014
Citation: Zhou, Z., Packialakshmi, B., Makkar, S.K., Dridi, S., Rath, N.C. 2014. Effect of butyrate on immune response of a chicken macrophage cell line. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 162(24-32).

Interpretive Summary: Butyrate is a fatty acid produced by bacteria which has beneficial health effects. It can affect immunity. To understand how it affects immunity, we treated chicken macrophage cells that protect against infection with sodium butyrate and studied the changes induced by it both in the presence and absence of a bacterial endotoxin. Bacterial endotoxin induces many changes in macrophage preparing them to fight infection which sometimes can also be harmful to host. Our results show that butyrate can down regulate many of these responses induced by endotoxin thus, can be helpful to appease damage induced by an overactive immune system.

Technical Abstract: Butyric acid is a major short chain fatty acid (SCFA) produced in the gastrointestinal tract by anaerobic bacterial fermentation which has been demonstrated to have beneficial health effects in many species including poultry. To understand the immunomodulating effects of butyrate on chicken macrophage, we treated HTC cells with Na-butyrate in the absence or presence of Salmonella typhimurium lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), a metabolic activator, evaluating various functional parameters of these cells. The results demonstrate that, butyrate by itself shows no significant effect on variables such as nitric oxide (NO) production and inflammatory cytokines expression but it inhibits NO production, and reduces the expression of inflammatory cytokines IL-1 beta, IL-6, IFN-y and IL-10 in LPS-stimulated cells. Butyrate decreases the expression of TGF-beta 3 in the presence or absence of LPS, while it has no effect on IL-4, T beta 4, and MMP2 expression. In addition, butyrate augments PMA induced oxidative burst indicated by DCF-DA oxidation and restores LPS induced attenuation of tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity. Although butyrate has no significant effect on phagocytosis or matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activities of resting HTC cells, it significantly suppresses the effects induced by their respective stimulants such as, LPS induced phagocytosis and PMA induced MMP expression. These results suggest that butyrate has immunomodulatory property in the presence of agents that incite the cells thus, has potential to control inflammation and restore immune homeostasis.