Vol. 11, Special Issue 9 (2022)

Author(s):
Dr. Dhiraj Kumar, Dr. Nirbhay Kumar, Dr. VK Gond and Dr. C Jayachandran

Abstract:
Antimicrobial therapy constitutes a major component of modern medical and veterinary practices. Several studies indicate that antimicrobial agents have role which affect the host immunity and thereby alter course of diseases. The present study was conducted to assess the immunological effect of enrofloxacin in goats administered @ 5 mg/kg body weight by multiple intramuscular administration. Three groups of goats comprising of five animals in each group were selected for the study. Group I consisted of saline control, group II contained animals with antigen (Ag) control [2 ml of 7% sheep red blood cell (SRBC) Ag given on 1^st day as sensitizing dose and on 10^th day as challenging dose], group III consisted of animals exposed to enrofloxacin and SRBC Ag (enrofloxacin @ 5 mg/kg I.M. daily for 7 days during sensitizing and challenging period and SRBC as given in group II). Blood samples were collected on 1, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days of the experiment. The immunological parameters evaluated were haemagglutination (HA) test for humoral immune response (HIR) whereas absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) for evaluating cell mediated immune response (CMIR). DTH was assessed by injecting 1-chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB), phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P) and purified protein derivative (PPD) in the skin of the neck region. The agglutinating antibody titers recorded higher titre in enrofloxacin treated group as compared to antigen treated group. Three mitogens used in the study revealed very least immunomodulatory effect when the drugs were given alone. The ALC revealed an apparent decrease of lymphocyte count when enrofloxacin was given alone. It is concluded that these drugs when given in in multiple doses exert immunomodulatory effect on humoral immunity while only very little effect was evident on the CMIR.