Retrospective evaluation of udder recovery of cows with subclinical mastitis following treatment with acoustic pulse technology (APT) on commercial dairy farms and its economic impact.

Retrospective evaluation of udder recovery following treatment of the inflamed quarter with acoustic pulse technology (APT) of cows with subclinical mastitis was done on 4 Israeli commercial dairy farms. Here, we evaluated the APT treatment as a tool to manage subclinical mastitis and its economic consequences in commercial farms. Recovery of the infected glands following APT treatment was compared to the customary no-treatment (NT) for cows with subclinical mastitis.

Alternative Traits for Genetic Evaluation of Mastitis Based on Lifetime Merit.

Genetic selection has achieved little progress in reducing mastitis incidence. Mastitis traits are problematic due to the lack of sensitivity of the data and reliance on clinical diagnosis, often missing subclinical cases, and/or on monthly somatic cell count (SCC) measurements. The current measure for mastitis is the lactation average of the somatic cells score (LSCS).

Evaluation of acoustic pulse technology as a non-antibiotic therapy for bovine intramammary infections: Assessing bacterial cure vs. recovery from inflammation.

Introduction: The spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to human and animal health. Therefore, new solutions are needed to prevent returning to a world without effective antibiotics. Mastitis in dairy cows is a major reason for antimicrobial use in food animal production, and mastitis-causing bacteria have the potential to develop AMR.

Management of high cows-share-contribution of SCC to the bulk milk tank by acoustic pulse technology (APT).

A cow with mastitis has a high somatic cell count (SCC) in its milk. Cow-share-contribution of somatic cells to the bulk milk tank (BMTSCC) refers to the relative addition made by each cow's milk to the bulk tank's SCC. Since bulk milk is graded and priced according to the BMTSCC, high-yielding cows with mastitis are the main contributors to penalizations in milk price.

Basal Levels of CD18 Antigen Presenting Cells in Cow Milk Associate with Copy Number Variation of Fc Gamma Receptors.

Differentiation of cells by flow cytometry provides informative somatic cell counts (SCCs) that allow analyzing leukocyte population patterns in udder infections of different etiologies. Postulating that this approach also enhances the statistical power to detect genetic variants linked to cell levels in milk of healthy mammary glands, we used monoclonal antibodies anti-CD18, anti-CD4, anti--CD14, and anti-PMN to count cells presenting these surface antigens, and performed a genome-wide association study of these counts in 125 Israeli Holsteins genotyped using SNP BeadChips. We identified an informative haplotype of 15 SNPs in the centromeric end of BTA3 that was strongly associated with CD18 cells ( < 2.

Physiological response of mammary glands to Escherichia coli infection:A conflict between glucose need for milk production and immune response.

The mammary immune and physiological responses to distinct mammary-pathogenic E. coli (MPEC) strains were studied. One gland in each of ten cows were challenged intra-mammary and milk composition (lactose, fat, total protein, casein), biochemical (glucose, glucose-6-phosphate (Glu6P), oxalate, malate, lactate, pyruvate and citrate, malate and lactate dehydrogenases, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), nitrite, lactic peroxidase, catalase, albumin, lactoferrin, immunoglobulin) and clotting parameters were followed for 35 days post-challenge.

Correlation between Milk Bacteriology, Cytology and Mammary Tissue Histology in Cows: Cure from the Pathogen or Recovery from the Inflammation.

The aim of the current study was to verify the existence of a significant correlation between bacterial isolation (or not) and mammary gland inflammation, using traditional bacterial culturing and PCR, milk leucocytes distributions, and tissue histology. Twenty-two cows were tested at the level of the individual gland for bacteriological culture and real-time PCR (RT-PCR), milk composition, somatic cells count (SCC), and cell differentiation. Post-slaughter samples of teat-ends and mammary tissues were tested for histology and bacteriology by RT-PCR.

Oocyte maturation in plasma or follicular fluid obtained from lipopolysaccharide-treated cows disrupts its developmental competence.

Mastitis has deleterious effects on ovarian function and reproductive performance. We studied the association between plasma or follicular fluid (FF) obtained from endotoxin-induced mastitic cows, and oocyte developmental competence. Lactating Holstein cows were synchronized using the Ovsynch protocol.

Milk quality and milk transformation parameters from infected mammary glands depends on the infecting bacteria species.

The current study measured the influence of milk of subclinically infected glands by different bacteria species on the cow's milk. The effects of bacterial infection or inflammation on gland milk yield were related to the bacteria species that caused the infection. The volume of milk of the inflamed gland from the cow's milk yield was significantly lower (P<0.

Application of pancreatic phospholipase A2 for treatment of bovine mastitis.

Recent findings have indicated that secreted phospholipases A2 (sPLA2s) have anti-inflammatory functions, including relief of symptoms in a mouse model of mastitis. This prompted us to investigate the therapeutic application of sPLA2, PLA2G1B, for bovine mastitis. Initial testing of PLA2G1B's effect on bovine mammary epithelial cell (bMEC) line PS revealed no changes in cell viability or cytokine-secretion pattern.

Assessment of acoustic pulse therapy (APT), a non-antibiotic treatment for dairy cows with clinical and subclinical mastitis.

Clinical and subclinical mastitis affects 30% of cows and is regarded as the most significant economic burden on the dairy farm reducing milk yield and quality and increasing culling rate. A proprietary Acoustic Pulse Therapy (APT) device was developed specifically for treating dairy cows. The APT device was designed to produce deep penetrating acoustic pulses that are distributed over a large treated area at a therapeutic level.

Postgenomics Characterization of an Essential Genetic Determinant of Mammary Pathogenic .

are major bacterial pathogens causing bovine mastitis, a disease of great economic impact on dairy production worldwide. This work aimed to study the virulence determinants of mammary pathogenic (MPEC). By whole-genome sequencing analysis of 40 MPEC and 22 environmental ("dairy-farm" [DFEC]) strains, we found that only the locus () for ferric dicitrate uptake was present in the core genome of MPEC and that it was absent in DFEC genomes ( < 0.

Nature and Consequences of Biological Reductionism for the Immunological Study of Infectious Diseases.

Evolution has conserved "economic" systems that perform many functions, faster or better, with less. For example, three to five leukocyte types protect from thousands of pathogens. To achieve so much with so little, biological systems combine their limited elements, creating complex structures.

Comparison of the immune responses associated with experimental bovine mastitis caused by different strains of Escherichia coli.

We studied the mammary immune response to different mammary pathogenic Escherichia coli (MPEC) strains in cows, hypothesising that the dynamics of response would differ. E. coli is a major aetiologic agent of acute clinical bovine mastitis of various degrees of severity with specific strains being associated with persistent infections.

Genomic Comparative Study of Bovine Mastitis Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli, one of the main causative agents of bovine mastitis, is responsible for significant losses on dairy farms. In order to better understand the pathogenicity of E. coli mastitis, an accurate characterization of E.

The Interrelationships between Lactose Intolerance and the Modern Dairy Industry: Global Perspectives in Evolutional and Historical Backgrounds.

Humans learned to exploit ruminants as a source of milk about 10,000 years ago. Since then, the use of domesticated ruminants as a source of milk and dairy products has expanded until today when the dairy industry has become one of the largest sectors in the modern food industry, including the spread at the present time to countries such as China and Japan. This review analyzes the reasons for this expansion and flourishing.

Genomic and Phenomic Study of Mammary Pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli is a major etiological agent of intra-mammary infections (IMI) in cows, leading to acute mastitis and causing great economic losses in dairy production worldwide. Particular strains cause persistent IMI, leading to recurrent mastitis. Virulence factors of mammary pathogenic E.

Influence of intramammary infection of a single gland in dairy cows on the cow's milk quality.

Intramammary infection (IMI), comprises a group of costly diseases affecting dairy animals worldwide. Many dairy parlours are equipped with on-line computerised data acquisition systems designed to detect IMI. However, the data collected is related to the cow level, therefore the contribution of infected glands to the recorded parameters may be over estimated.

Visualizing the indefinable: three-dimensional complexity of 'infectious diseases'.

Background: The words 'infection' and 'inflammation' lack specific definitions. Here, such words are not defined. Instead, the ability to visualize host-microbial interactions was explored.

Experimental model of toxin-induced subclinical mastitis and its effect on disruption of follicular function in cows.

This study establishes an experimental model for subclinical mastitis induced by Gram-positive (G+) exosecretions of Staphylococcus aureus origin or Gram-negative (G-) endotoxin of Escherichia coli origin to examine its effects on follicular growth and steroid concentrations in Holstein dairy cows. Cows were synchronized with the Ovsynch protocol followed by a series of follicular cycles that included GnRH and PGF2α doses administered every 8 days. Cows received small intramammary doses of either G+ (10 μg, n = 10) or G- (0.

Milk metabolites as indicators of mammary gland functions and milk quality.

The assumption, that metabolites derived from the activity of the mammary gland epithelial cells reflect changes in milk secretion and its coagulation properties, was tested in dairy cows. The experiment included cows with uninfected udders and cows with one of the glands infected by different bacteria specie. Analysis were carried at the cow level (including all four glands), or at the gland level.

Long term effects of Escherichia coli mastitis.

Escherichia coli is one of the most frequently diagnosed causes of bovine mastitis, and is typically associated with acute, clinical mastitis. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the long term effects of intramammary infections by E. coli on milk yield and quality, especially milk coagulation.

Subclinical mastitis in goats is associated with upregulation of nitric oxide-derived oxidative stress that causes reduction of milk antioxidative properties and impairment of its quality.

The aim of this study was to verify the existence of a nitric oxide (NO) cycle in goat milk and to study how changes in it affect milk composition during subclinical mastitis. Fifteen lactating dairy goats in which one udder-half was free from bacterial infection and the contra-lateral one was naturally infected with various species of coagulase-negative staphylococci were used. In comparison to uninfected glands, subclinical mastitis was associated with a decrease in milk yield, lactose concentration, and curd yield and an increase in nitrite and nitrate concentrations and with measurements reflecting increased formation of NO-derived free-radical nitrogen dioxide.