Influence of feeding fresh colostrum from the dam or frozen colostrum from a pool on indicator gut microbes and the inflammatory response in neonatal calves

Author(s)

Martin, Camila Cecilia ^{[1, 2]} ; Fontes Novo de Oliveira, Sylvia Marquart ^[1] ; dos Reis Costa, Juliana Franca ^[1] ; Baccili, Camila Costa ^[1] ; Silva, Bruno Toledo ^[1] ; Hurley, David John ^[3] ; Gomes, Viviani ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Internal Med, Coll Vet Med & Anim Sci, 87 Prof Dr Orlando Marques de Paiva Ave, BR-05508270 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Coll Vet Med & Anim Sci, 87 Prof Dr Orlando Marques de Paiva Ave, BR-05508270 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Georgia, Coll Vet Med, Food Anim Hlth & Management Program, Athens, GA 30602 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Research in Veterinary Science; v. 135, p. 355-365, MAR 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of cells from colostrum to modulate the intestinal microbial colonization, the activity of the inflammatory response, and for their influence on the development of diarrheal disease in calves. Twenty calves were distributed into two groups: COL+ (n = 10) receiving fresh whole colostrum; COL- (n = 10) receiving pooled frozen colostrum, containing no viable cells. All assessments were made before colostrum intake (D0), the next day (D2), and weekly on the 7th (D7), 14th (D14), 21st (D21) and 28th (D28) day of age. Diarrhea was assessed using a fecal score, and the systemic inflammatory status was assessed using a combination of temperature, anemia, total serum iron level, total haptoglobin concentration and the need for systemic antimicrobial treatment. The number of indicator bacteria present in the fecal population was estimated using qPCR. However, COL- calves presented more frequent signs of systemic inflammatory response including, fever at D7 (P = 0.011); indicator haptoglobin levels on D7 and D14, and lower levels of iron on D7, D14. Anemia was detected more often in the COL- calves on D21 (P = 0.043) and D28 (P = 0.016). COLcalves had a 1.66 greater chance of having elevated haptoglobin and a 1.8 greater chance of needing treatment with antimicrobials than COL+. A lower number of DNA copies of Clostridium perfringens were detected in COL+ calves on D2 (P = 0.088) and D7 (P = 0.040). Similarly, a low number of DNA copies was observed for Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus spp. (P = 0.012) in the fecal samples of COL+ calves on D7. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/06152-7 - Effect of leukocytes colostrum mother in immune response of newborn calves
• Grantee: Viviani Gomes
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants