Transcriptomic analysis of porcine PBMCs in response to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae reveals the dynamic changes of differentially expressed genes related to immuno-inflammatory responses

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is the cause of porcine pleuropneumonia, for which the mortality rate is high. Host peripheral blood is a body site for the immune clearance of pathogens mediated by release of inflammatory factors. However, “out of control” inflammatory factor release can contribute to host death. To further understand the changes in the transcription level of immune-related effectors, samples of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from piglets at different stages of infection (0, 24 and 120 h) were sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq™ 4000 platform. We found 3818 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the 24 h-infection group compared to the 0 h-infection group (Pb24-Vs-Pb0). DEGs mainly involved in the Gene ontology and KEGG pathways that included nucleic acid metabolism regulation, cell growth, cell differentiation, and organ morphological maintenance were not significantly enriched (P > 0.05). However, DEGs associated with protein kinase activity, receptor activation, metabolism, local adhesion and immune inflammatory responses were significantly enriched in Pb120-Vs-Pb24 (P < 0.05), as were those related to the T cell receptor signalling pathway, with most being down-regulated compared to the preceding stage (Pb24-Vs-Pb0). In PBMCs there were some changes in glucose metabolism, local adhesion and the immune inflammatory response (Pb120-Vs-Pb0). In addition, up-regulated DEGs, such as IL8, IL1β, and CCL2, and were significantly enriched in immune-inflammatory related pathways compared to the uninfected stage, although they began to decline after 24 h.