Reference parameters of peripheral immune cell populations in broiler chickens using a large database.

1. Peripheral blood immune evaluation of broilers by flow cytometry is commonly used in avian research. However, indicative immune parameters in healthy animals have not yet been determined. In this trial, confidence intervals were determined for several circulating immune cell subsets.2. The intervals were determined from over 1,000 healthy broilers from commercial lines. To verify the usefulness of the data, they were compared to animals under salmonellosis or mycotoxin challenges.3. Confidence intervals were determined for several immune cells in the peripheral blood of broilers. The importance of some immune cells in discriminating diseased from healthy controls was demonstrated.4. This work initiated the construction of reference values for cellular parameters in broilers as a tool for the avian immunology community. Accordingly, the entire dataset of healthy animals was made available for use with other analyses and for improvement by others.