Staphylococcus hyicus is the most common causative agent of exudative epidermitis (EE) in piglets. Staphylococcus hyicus can be grouped into toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains based on its ability to cause EE in pigs. However, the inflammatory response of piglets infected with toxigenic and non-toxigenic S. hyicus has not been elucidated. In this study, we evaluated the serum cytokine profile in piglets inoculated with toxigenic and non-toxigenic S. hyicus strains and recorded the clinical signs in piglets. Fifteen piglets were divided into three groups (n = 5) and inoculated with a toxigenic strain (ZC-4), a non-toxigenic strain (CF-1), and PBS (control), respectively. The changes in serum levels of cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interferon-γ, transforming growth factor-β1, and tumor necrosis factor-α) were evaluated using a cytokine array at 6, 24, 48, and 72 h post inoculation. The results showed that piglets infected with the toxigenic strain exhibited more severe clinical signs and higher mortality than those infected with the non-toxigenic strain. The serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β were significantly increased in toxigenic-and non-toxigenic-strain-infected piglets compared to those in the control group (p < 0.05), while the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was significantly up-regulated only in toxigenic group than in control group (p < 0.05). These results indicated that piglets infected with toxigenic and non-toxigenic S. hyicus showed differential infection status and inflammatory responses. Both toxigenic- and non-toxigenic- S. hyicus infection could induce a pro-inflammatory reaction in piglets. In addition, the toxigenic strain induced a strong anti-inflammatory response in piglets as indicated by the increased serum level of IL-10, which may be associated with the severe clinical signs and increased mortality and may be the key cytokine response responsible for pathogenic mechanisms of S. hyicus.

葡萄球菌 是仔猪渗出性表皮炎（EE）最常见的病原体。 葡萄球菌根据其在猪中引起EE的能力，可分为产毒和非产毒品系。但是，感染有毒和无毒的仔猪的炎症反应葡萄球菌尚未阐明。在这项研究中，我们评估了产毒和非产毒疫苗对仔猪血清细胞因子的影响葡萄球菌并记录仔猪的临床体征。将15头仔猪分为三组（ñ（＝ 5）并分别用产毒菌株（ZC-4），非产毒菌株（CF-1）和PBS（对照）接种。血清细胞因子（白介素[IL]-1β，IL-4，IL-6，IL-8，IL-10，IL-12，粒细胞-巨噬细胞集落刺激因子，干扰素-γ，转化生长因子）的水平变化在接种后6、24、48和72 h使用细胞因子阵列评估-β1和肿瘤坏死因子-α）。结果表明，与无毒力毒株相比，被毒物毒株感染的仔猪表现出更严重的临床症状和更高的死亡率。与对照组相比，在产毒和非产毒株感染的仔猪中，促炎细胞因子IL-1β的血清水平显着升高（p <0.05），而抗炎细胞因子IL-10仅在产毒组明显高于对照组（p<0.05）。这些结果表明，仔猪感染了有毒和无毒葡萄球菌表现出不同的感染状态和炎症反应。产毒和非产毒葡萄球菌感染可能会诱发仔猪的促炎反应。此外，如IL-10血清水平升高所表明，该产毒株在仔猪中诱导了强烈的抗炎反应，这可能与严重的临床体征和死亡率增加有关，并且可能是导致病原性机制的关键细胞因子反应的葡萄球菌。