Studies on the evaluation of thymic function in domestic animals and translational research to veterinary clinic

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K08052
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Veterinary medical science
• Research Institution: University of Miyazaki
• Principal Investigator: Yasuda Masahiro 宮崎大学, 農学部, 教授 (10336290)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 胸腺機能 / sjTREC / 疾病予防 / 易感染 / 慢性疾患

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Measurements of sjTREC values have been used to evaluate thymic function. I established a quantitative PCR (QPCR) assay of bovine sjTREC. In the study, I used this QPCR assay to measure the sjTREC value in bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells and evaluated the relationships between sjTREC values and peripheral blood T-cell number, growth stage, gender, and meteorological season. The sjTREC value was highest at the neonatal stage, and its value subsequently decreased with age. The sjTREC value in calves up to 50-days old was significantly higher for males than for females, suggesting that thymic function might differ by gender. In addition, the sjTREC value and the peripheral T-cell number were significantly higher in calves in the summer season than in calves in the winter season. These data suggest that bovine thymic function is highly variable and varies according to the growth stage, gender, and environmental factors such as air temperature or the UV index.

Free Research Field

獣医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

国内外でも、ワクチネーションプログラム、家畜の栄養管理や飼育環境管理などこれまでに確立されてきた種々の方法によって、家畜の疾病罹患率はある程度はコントロールされている。しかしながら依然として、相当数の家畜が下痢や肺炎等に罹患し、一過性の治療効果は見られるものの損耗性疾患によって死廃となっている。そこで本研究では、家畜の胸腺機能の新規評価法を確立し、臨床症例を用いて解析と評価を実施する。本研究の結果、家畜の免疫能の評価方法が確立し、臨床応用を行い、策定した安全・安価な免疫増強プログラムによって、疾病の慢性化した死廃家畜の減少に貢献できる。