Mucosal immunity: an overview and studies of enteric and respiratory coronavirus infections in a swine model of enteric disease

Based on the tenet of a common mucosal immune system, antigenic stimulation at one mucosal site results in the distribution of antigen-specific IgA precursor cells to distant mucosal sites. However, recent studies suggest that functional compartmentalization and limited reciprocity may exist within some components of the common mucosal immune system. Although oral immunization is often very effective in inducing immunity to respiratory pathogens, the converse (respiratory immunization to prevent enteric diseases) may not be as effective. To address this question and to study interactions between the bronchus-associated (BALT) and gut-associated (GALT) lymphoid tissues related to protective immunity, we used as a model two antigenically related porcine coronaviruses which replicate primarily in the intestine (transmissible gastroenteritis virus, TGEV) or respiratory tract (porcine respiratory coronavirus, PRCV). The tissue distribution and magnitude of the antibody secreting cell (ASC) responses (measured by ELISPOT) and cell-mediated immune responses (measured by lymphoproliferative assays, LPA) coincided with the viral tissue tropisms. Immunization via GALT (gut infection with TGEV) elicited high numbers of IgA ASC and high LPA responses in GALT (gut lamina propria, LP or mesenteric lymph nodes, MLN), but lower responses in BALT (bronchial lymph nodes, BLN) and induced complete protection against enteric TGEV challenge. In contrast immunization via BALT (respiratory infection with PRCV) elicited systemic type responses (high numbers of IgG ASC in the BLN), but few ASC and low LPA responses in the gut LP or MLN and induced only partial protection against enteric TGEV challenge. Thus administration of vaccines intranasally may not be optimally effective for inducing intestinal immunity in contrast to the reported efficacy of oral vaccines for inducing respiratory immunity.