RESUMEN
A technique to take sequential tissue biopsy samples in multiparous, periparturient ewes from the abomasal mucosa is described, developed in parallel in Scotland and New Zealand. Samples were extracted via abomasal cannulae inserted into the wall of the abomasum and exteriorised through dorso-ventral laparotomy. Animals recovered quickly post-surgery, and tolerated the cannula and sampling without any adverse signs of pain or discomfort. The technique was deployed in two pilot studies to investigate the sequential mucosal inflammatory cell responses in well-defined parasitological models, during the periparturient relaxation of immunity in ewes infected with gastrointestinal nematodes and subjected to different feeding treatments. One experiment (Moredun Research Institute, Scotland) involved the infection of twin-bearing ewes with Teladorsagia circumcincta L3 either before, or after lambing. By feeding ewes with different levels of protein supplementation, preliminary data on the impact of nutrition on the eosinophil, mucosal mast cell and globule leucocyte responses during this period were investigated. A similar study was also performed at Lincoln University, New Zealand, to investigate these cell responses in sheep fed relatively high or low protein diets during pregnancy, and infected with a combined immunisation regime of T. circumcincta and Trichostrongylus colubriformis L3. These studies confirmed the phenomenon termed the periparturient relaxation in immunity (PPRI) where a transitory increase in faecal egg counts is observed during late pregnancy and lactation, and this effect was exacerbated during protein undernutrition. Although the number of animals was low in each experiment and the cell responses variable, the results together suggest a reduction in the number of mucosal mast cells and globule leucocyte during the PPRI when protein supply was restricted. The present paper thus describes a successful technique to monitor ovine mucosal cell populations during local immune responses in normal and pregnant sheep. It is envisaged that this technique will be a powerful adjunct to investigations into mucosal immune mechanisms and disease pathogenesis, and will be employed to confirm the influence of dietary protein on the local inflammatory cell responses during the PPRI.