A Study on IFN-γ and IL-10 Gene Expression Changes in Gallus gallus Embryo Infected with Staphylococcus aureus and Its Possible Alteration by Bakreshwar Hot Spring Water

Abstract

Introduction: Hot springs have been used for medicinal purpose since ancient times. Bathing in the hot springs is effective in treating skin infections, arthritis etc. Bakreshwar, located in Birbhum district of West Bengal is known for its ten hot springs of varying temperature (35°C-71°C). These hot springs have relatively high sulphur content and are believed to heal skin infections. Aim: To study whether Bakreshwar hot spring water can effectively act on Gallus gallus embryo infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Methodology: Fourteen days old embryonated eggs were inoculated with freshly prepared suspension of Staphylococcus aureus. The hot spring water, collected from Agnikund(65°C), was used to check whether it can cure the bacterial infection effectively. Following harvesting morbid anatomy study was done followed by allantoic fluid collection, RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized. This cDNA was then used to study the cytokine gene expression changes. Result: By comparing cytokine gene expression in control and curative sets, it was observed that there were improvements in general appearances of the embryos and IL-10 and IFN-γ expressions were enhanced in bacterial control set whereas in the curative set the gene expressions were much less. Conclusion: It is thus inferred that hot spring water has curing effect in Staphylococcus aureus infection and is also capable of normalizing the cytokine balance in such infection.