The present study deals with the co-ordination of
cytokine (IL-4 and IFN-γ) expression and kinetics of
peste des petits ruminants (PPR) virus
antigen and antibody in PPRV infected and vaccinated goats. The infected animals exhibited mixed
cytokine (both T(H)1 and T(H)2) responses in the initial phase of the disease. The infected and dead goats had increased IFN-γ response before their death; while
IL-4 remained at the base level. The
cytokine expression in recovered animals was almost similar to that of vaccinated ones, where a unique biphasic response of
IL-4 expression was observed with an up-regulation of IFN-γ on 7(th) days post vaccination (dpv). Analysis of PPR virus
antigen and antibody kinetics in different components of blood from infected and vaccinated animals revealed that the PPR virus
antigen load was highest in plasma followed by serum and blood of the infected animals, whereas vaccinated animals showed only marginal positivity on 9(th) dpv. The antibody titer was high in serum followed by plasma and blood in both vaccinated and infected animals. Therefore, it is inferred that the presence of
antigen and antibody were significant with the expression of
cytokine, and that a decreased response of
IL-4 was noticed during intermediate phase of the disease i.e., 7 to 12(th) days post
infection (dpi). This indicates the ability to mount a functional T(H)2 response after 14(th) dpi could be a critical determinant in deciding the survival of the PPR infected animal.