Abstract: The chicken were immunized orally with NDV strain LaSota vaccine containing two kinds of compound mucosal immune adjuvant(Group adjuvant Ⅰ and Ⅱ) respectively. The CD3+T lymphocytes, intraepithelial lymphocytes(IEL) and IFN-γ mRNA expression of small intestine in chicken were investigated. The results showed that the number of CD3+T lymphocytes and IELs increased during the period of immunity. The number of CD3+T lymphocytes of Group adjuvant Ⅱ were higher than that of Group adjuvant Ⅰ (P<0.05) in duodenum and significantly higher (P<0.01) in jejunum at the 3rd week and 5th week after vaccination. The number of IELs of Group adjuvant Ⅱ were significantly higher than that of Group adjuvant Ⅰ (P<0.01) in Peyer’s Patch at the 7th week after vaccination. The IFN-γ mRNA expression of two compound adjuvant groups decreased after vaccination. The results demonstrated that compound adjuvants could induce high level cellular immune response and promote intestine mucosal immunity in chicken.

Key words: compound mucosal immune adjuvant, CD3+T lymphocytes, intraepithelial lymphocytes, IFN-γ