Background: Twenty-four h electrocardiographic monitoring is a noninvasive method of assessing cardiac rhythm. Holter monitoring in farm animals can help assessing heart rate variability and its relationship with stress and production. Several authors have reviewed the normal cardiac rhythm of bovines, but there is little information on heart rhythm in calves. The goal of this research is to elucidate which cardiac rhythms may be considered physiological in Holstein calves, from 3 to 6 months old. Materials, Methods & Results: Twenty-four h ambulatory electrocardiography (Holter monitoring) was performed in 10 male Holstein calves, with ages ranging from 3 to 6 months old. The animals came from private farms in São Paulo state and were housed in a semi-open stall during the study. The animals had their hair clipped from the third to the fifth intercostal spaces on both sides of the chest, from the sternal region to the glenohumeral joint, and seven electrodes were positioned in a diagonal configuration. Decoding of the recordings was performed using specialized software and in order to minimize digital mistakes, all of the beats marked as ectopic by the software were manually revised by the authors. Mean heart rate was 83.2 ± 11.06 beats per min (bpm), maximum heart rate was 147.1 ± 11.05 bpm, and minimum heart rate was 53.7 ± 7.45 bpm. In 90% of the calves, normal sinus rhythm was predominant, whereas in 10%, sinus arrhythmia (SA) was prevalent. Second degree atrioventricular blocks (AV blocks) were observed in 30% of the animals and supraventricular premature beats (SPB) were detected in 50%. Holter monitoring was repeated after three months in three of the animals; two showed no arrhythmias at the second exam, and in the other, the frequency of AV blocks was decreased by 88.64%. Discussion: In the present study, the authors observed a relatively high incidence of arrhythmias in Holstein calves, although there is little information available in the literature for comparison. The use of Holter monitoring is much more sensitive in the assessment of arrhythmias than a standard electrocardiogram, since it records the cardiac rhythm for 24 to 48 h, as opposed to only 2 to 3 min. Therefore, it is possible that the arrhythmias found in the calves in the current study were physiological events otherwise unidentified by conventional electrocardiogram. The AV blocks observed in the animals of the present study were intermittent and apparently non-related to any particular event or situation, so it was not possible to demonstrate whether they disappeared after exercise. As for the supraventricular ectopic beats, they are frequent in older bovines, mainly in dairy cows, and are usually related to increased vagal tone, stress, hormonal changes, ectopic atrial focus, and peak lactation volume overload. The animals used in the present study were otherwise healthy, and did not demonstrate any clinical signs of gastrointestinal dysfunction or other disease that might have justified an increase in their vagal tone. In a...

Pesq. Vet. Bras. 33(Supl.1):93-98, dezembro 2013 93 RESUMO.-A identificação do impacto que certas formas de estresse causam ao bem estar animal e equilíbrio orgâ-nico, representa um desafio á adoção de boas práticas de criação. Assim, a presente pesquisa verificou o impacto de um desafio doloroso rotineiro dos bovinos na imunidade pulmonar e sistêmica. Avaliou-se hemograma e cortisol, em quatro momentos, sendo M1, M6, M7 e M8 (respectivamente sete dias antes e um, três e oito dias depois do desafio doloroso) e citologia broncolaveolar, obtida por broncoscopia, nos momentos M1, M6 e M8. Houve uma redução dos valores do eritrograma no primeiro dia após o desafio, compatível com anaplasmose e agravada pela perda de sangue durante a cirurgia e um influxo de leucócitos para a região pulmonar. Oito dias após o desafio, evidenciou-se aumento de cortisol, gerando uma leucocitose por neutrofilia e monocitose no sangue com provável redução de quimiotaxia para o pulmão, tornando o trato respiratório potencialmente mais susceptível a infecções, sugerindo que esta prática de manejo, mesmo acompanhado de protocolo analgésico, pode ser considerada um fator de risco a penumonias afetando o bem estar animal. The recognition of the impact of certains forms of stress in the animal well being and organic equilibrium, represents a challenge to the adoption of good practices. Thus, this research verified the impact of a painful rotine of the cattle husbandry can cause on pulmonary and systemic immunity. Was evaluated hemogram and cortisol, in four moments, being M1, M6, M7 e M8 (respectively seven days before and one, three and eight days after the painful challenge) and bronchoalveolar cytology,obtained by bronchoscopy, in the moments of M1, M6 e M8. There was a reduction of the erythrogram values in the first day after the challenge, compatible with the anaplasmosis and aggravated by the blood loss during the surgery and an influx of leukocytes to the pulmonary region. Eight days after the challenge, became evident the cortisol increase, enerating leukocytosis by neutrophilia and monocytosis in the blood with a probable reduction of chemotaxis to the lungs, turning the respiratory tract potentially more susceptible to infections, suggesting that this practice, even accompanied by analgesic protocol, increases the risk of pneumonia, affecting the animal well-being.

The present study evaluated the impact that orchiectomy, a routine but painful intervention in bovine husbandry, can cause on pulmonary immunity. To identify whether orchiectomy can impair lung defense, analyses of serum cortisol concentration and of alveolar macrophage and their function (phagocytosis and respiratory burst) were evaluated. Sixteen Holstein bulls (7 mo old, 250±50kg of body weight BW) were divided in two homogeneous groups -the castrated group and the sham group -and the sample were collected on Days -7, 1 and 7 relative to the day of the procedure. Serum cortisol concentration statistically increased on Days 1 and 7 (D-7: 4,97±1,28ng/ml; D1: 6,35 ±1,10ng/ml; D7: 8,28±1,94ng/ml) after castration and these variables seem to impact the alveolar macrophage percentage on D1 (D-7: 76,86±3,44%; D1: 60,92±2,44%; D7: 74,17±2,56%) and their respective function of phagocytosis (P) and the oxidative burst (OB) (D-7: 4,97±1,28ng/mL; D1: 6,35 ±1,10ng/mL; D7: 8,28±1,94ng/mL). Notou-se diminuição de macrófagos alveolares no D1 (D-7: 76,86±3,44%; D1: 60,92±2,44%; D7: 74,17±2,56%) 25±15,63 valores arbitrários; D1: 54,75±14,07 valores arbitrários; D7: 31,77±8,44 valores arbitrários;34±39,52 valores arbitrários; D1: 135,25±37,68 valores arbitrários, D7: 117,73±18,17 valores arbitrários) e de suas funções de fagocitose (F) e metabolismo oxidativo (MO) nos dias 1 e 7 (

The article "Alveolar macrophage functions during the transition phase to active immunity in calves" by Bertagnon et al [doi: 10.1093/jas/ sky261] contained incorrect funding information, which has now been corrected.

RESUMO: A identificação de dor em bovinos e seu alivio, são essenciais para o bem estar animal, todavia ainda não há um teste ideal para esta avaliação. Alguns pesquisadores têm utilizados cortisol sérico e frequências cardíaca e respiratória para esta avaliação, enquanto outros utilizam escalas baseadas em comportamento ou expressões faciais, não existindo uma escala que leve em consideração a união destes identificadores para bovinos. Além disso, a maioria dos pesquisadores manipulam os animais para identificar a dor, o que poderia mascarar os resultados. Desta maneira o presente trabalho propôs elaborar e validar uma escala análogo visual para identificação de dor em bovinos submetidos à orquiectomia. Para tanto 8 bovinos holandeses de 200 dias de vida e 250 kg de peso vivo foram submetidos a orquiectomia com previa anestesia local e uso de analgésicos. A identificação de dor foi baseada em analises fisiológica (cortisol sérico e frequência respiratória), comportamental, de expressão facial e análogo visual nos momentos -30 (30 minutos antes do procedimento) e 1, 3, 6 12, 24, 72 e 420 horas após o procedimento; e com a exceção do cortisol, todas as analises foram realizadas sem a interferência do avaliador com o animal, por meio de filmagens de vídeos. Notou-se que todas as metodologias propostas foram capazes de identificar dor pós orquiectomia em bovinos, no entanto a graduação de maior dor foi em momentos pós-cirúrgicos distintos conforme o parâmetro avaliado. Assim houve fraca correlação entre os modelos propostos, pois se encontrou limitações para a maioria das metodologias avaliadas, concluindo-se que a associação entre os vários parâmetros de dor, tal qual o utilizado na escala análogo visual, aumenta a acurácia em identificar a dor após orquiectomia em bovinos.