Medycyna Wet. 66 (9), 593-596, 2010
| Pomorska-Mól M., Markowska-Daniel I. |
| Immunological status of piglets during the first weeks of life |
| In the article the immunological status of piglets in the first weeks of life is presented. The neonatal period is a huge challenge for a piglet’s immunological system. In this time his “virgin” immunological system comes into contact with an extreme numbers of environmental antigens. It takes place when the efficiency of this system is relatively low. There is limited external stimulation during gestation resulting in the lack of or presence of a minimal numbers of effector T lymphocytes, as well as memory cells in a piglet’s body. The pool of B lymphocytes is also immature. On account of the epitheliochorial structure of the porcine placenta the piglets are agammaglobulinemic in the first day of life. Due to a lack of efficient adaptive mechanisms, after birth the piglets are only equipped with innate immunity mechanisms, but they are not fully developed in the neonatal period. The most dynamic changes of immunological parameters are observed in the preweaning period. Summarizing, the immunological system of neonatal pigs is different from that of adults, from both an anatomical and functional point of view. The attainment of its maturity takes place around weaning. |
| Keywords: piglet, immunological system maturation, immunological status |