Age related changes in lymphocyte sub-populations in peripheral blood of healthy weaned piglets Pandey M.K.1, Rajukumar K.1,*, Senthilkumar D.1, Kombiah S.1, Shrivas S.1, Singh V.P.1 1ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Anand Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India *Address for Correspondence Rajukumar K., ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Anand Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, e-mail: krajukr@yahoo.com
Abstract The pig (Sus scrofadomesticus) has a highly complex and species specific cellular compartments in its lymphocyte population. The aim of this study was to document and analyse the changes in T-lymphocyte sub-populations in peripheral blood of healthy weaned piglets from 5 weeks to 36 weeks of age. Six 5-weekold piglets were bled at weekly intervals. Immunophenotyping of pe-ripheral blood leukocytes (PBL)was done using cell surface markers specific for porcine CD3, CD4 and CD8 by flow cytometry in a multicolour assay. The results demonstrated that the overall relative percentages of CD3+ (total T-lymphocytes), CD3+CD4+CD8α- (T-helper lymphocytes), CD3+CD4-CD8α+ (Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes) and CD3+CD4+CD8α+ (low) (memory/activated T-helper cells) increased with the age of piglets. The ratio of T helper and cytotoxic T cells was around 1:1 at 5 weeks of age and gradually rose to 1:2 at about 36 weeks of age. An inverse relationship with age was observed in the relative population of CD3-CD4-CD8a+ cells (NK cells) in total lymphocytes pool. The results of the present study reiterates the need for use of age matched controls during experimental studies involving pigs. How to cite this article: Pandey, M.K., K., Rajukumar, D., Senthilkumar, S., Kombiah, Shrivas, S. and Singh, V.P. Age related changes in lymphocyte sub-populations in peripheral blood of healthy weaned piglets. (2019). Indian J. Vet. Pathol., 43(1): 23–27 Top Keywords Flow cytometry, Pig, Lymphocyte subpopulations, Peripheral blood, CD. Top |