Abstract

The effects of 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) on some in vitro functions of bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were examined. It was shown that 2-ME enhanced, in a dose-dependent manner, the production of antibodies to bovine coronavirus. In this test the optimal concentration of 2-ME was 50-mu-M. This molarity of 2-ME was also optimal for the pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-induced proliferation of PBMC obtained from the 7 cattle tested. Similarly, the spontaneous proliferation of PBMC from 4 out of these cattle was enhanced. Thus, 2-ME evoked an increase (up to 2.5 times) or a decrease (at most 10 times) of the quota between the PWM-induced and the spontaneous proliferation (stimulation index). In general, the presence of 50-mu-M 2-ME enhanced the in vitro production of interferon by bovine PBMC. On the contrary, the highest proliferative response of PBMC to stimulation with bovine virus diarrhoea virus was achieved in cultures without 2-ME or in cultures with 0.5 or 5-mu-M 2-ME.Since the effects of 2-ME varied, for different tests as well as for cattle tested, attention should be paid to the use of 2-ME in cultures of bovine PBMC.

Published in

Journal of Veterinary Medicine, Series B
1992, Volume: 39, number: 3, pages: 226-232
Publisher: BLACKWELL WISSENSCHAFTS-VERLAG GMBH

SLU Authors

• Fossum, Caroline

  • Department of Cattle and Sheep Diseases, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Clinical Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1992.tb01161.x

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/106564