IN-VITRO BLASTOGENIC RESPONSES AND INTERFERON-GAMMA PRODUCTION BY INTESTINAL INTRAEPITHELIAL LYMPHOCYTES OF CALVES

Intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes are a large and heterogenous po pulation of lymphocytes located strategically at the entry site of ent eric pathogens into the body. Their ability to proliferate and produce interferon-gamma in vitro in response to mitogens or interleukin-2 wa s investigated in four-week-old calves. It was found that they had sim ilar mitogen-induced blastogenic responses and produced interferon-gam ma like the peripheral blood lymphocytes of four-week-old calves. Prel iminary studies indicated that the intraepithelial lymphocytes also re sponded to Cryptosporidium parvum antigen in vitro. Thus, intraepithel ial lymphocytes may be important in the host's response to enteric inf ections of calves such as cryptosporidiosis.