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. 1994 Jun;62(6):2600–2604. doi: 10.1128/iai.62.6.2600-2604.1994

Production of alpha interferon in Cowdria ruminantium-infected cattle and its effect on infected endothelial cell cultures.

P Totté 1, F Jongejan 1, A L de Gee 1, J Wérenne 1
PMCID: PMC186550  PMID: 8188383

Abstract

Cattle that resisted experimental heartwater infection caused by the rickettsia Cowdria ruminantium produced significant levels of circulating alpha interferon (IFN-alpha), whereas animals that died from heartwater did not. In vitro, recombinant bovine IFN-alpha was found to significantly reduce the yield of Cowdria organisms in bovine endothelial cells, but even at a high concentration (1,000 U/ml), IFN-alpha did not completely prevent the growth of Cowdria organisms in these cells. This limited inhibitory effect of IFN-alpha is in agreement with the in vivo situation where an infectious process has to take place to induce a protective immune response. Our results suggest that IFN-alpha produced in vivo in response to Cowdria infection may represent an efficient way to slow down the infection and allow the animal to mount a protective immune response. IFN-alpha is the first endogenously produced factor shown to have anti-Cowdria activity.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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