Intramammary 25-hydroxyvitamin D treatment modulates innate immune responses to endotoxin-induced mastitis.

Vitamin D signaling in response to pathogen-associated molecules contributes to activation of innate immune responses of bovine monocytes. We hypothesized that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of bacteria associated with mastitis in dairy cows activates the vitamin D pathway in innate immune cells of the udder and that increasing availability of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] would augment expression of vitamin D-associated genes. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of intramammary LPS and 25(OH)D treatments on activation of the vitamin D pathway and innate immune responses of mammary immune cells.

Vitamin D status of dairy cattle: Outcomes of current practices in the dairy industry.

The need for vitamin D supplementation of dairy cattle has been known for the better part of the last century and is well appreciated by dairy producers and nutritionists. Whether current recommendations and practices for supplemental vitamin D are meeting the needs of dairy cattle, however, is not well known. The vitamin D status of animals is reliably indicated by the concentration of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] metabolite in serum or plasma, with a concentration of 30ng/mL proposed as a lower threshold for sufficiency.