Differential cytokine expression in T-cell subsets of chicken caecal tonsils co-cultured with three species of Lactobacillus.

Members of the intestinal microbiota play an important role in the development of T-cells. Little is known about responses of intestinal T-cell subsets of chickens to commensal bacteria. Therefore, we set out to characterise cytokine responses in T-cells after exposure to lactobacilli. Caecal tonsil mononuclear cells were isolated and co-cultured with Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus salivarius for 12 hours. Subsequently the CD4+ and CD8+ cells were fractionated by flow cytometry and the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines as well as Toll-like receptor 21 (TLR21) was determined. The results demonstrated that chicken CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells express TLR21 and that the various isolates of lactobacilli differentially induces the expression of interleukin 10, interferon-gamma and transforming growth factor beta. Our results demonstrate that different Lactobacillus species have the capacity to regulate intestinal T-cell responses and that these responses may be important to intestinal homeostasis.