Prevalence, antigenic specificity, and bactericidal activity of poultry anti-Campylobacter maternal antibodies

Poultry are considered the major reservoir for Campylobacter jejuni, a lead ing 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 ant i-Campylobacter maternal antibodies in protecting young broiler chickens fr om infection by C jejuni. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA ), the prevalence of anti-C. jejuni antibodies in breeder chickens, egg yol ks, and broilers from multiple flocks of different farms were examined. Hig h levels of antibodies to the organism were detected in serum samples of br eeder 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 2 8 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, a ntibody titers decreased substantially and were not detected during the thi rd and fourth weeks of age. The disappearance of anti-Campylobacter materna l 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 immu noblotting, the maternally derived antibodies recognized multiple membrane proteins of C jejuni ranging from 19 to 107 kDa. Moreover, in vitro serum b actericidal assays showed that anti-Campylobacter maternal antibodies were active in antibody-dependent complement-mediated killing of C. jejuni. Toge ther, these results highlight the widespread presence of functional antiCam pylobacter antibodies in the poultry production system and provide a strong rationale for further investigation of the potential role of anti-C. jejun i maternal antibodies in protecting young chickens from infection by C. jej uni.