Effect of temporary cessation of milking on the innate immune components in goat milk

Abstract

Temporary cessation of milking is widely used during the dry period of dairy cows. Temporary cessation of milking induces an increase in the somatic cell count (SCC) and level of several inflammatory components of milk, which is believed to be a local adaptation and defense mechanism of the mammary gland. In Japan, temporary cessation of milking combined with antibiotic administration is widely used to treat mastitis. The present study aimed to elucidate the role of the innate immune system during temporary cessation of milking in a goat model by investigating the concentration of several innate immune components in milk during and around the temporary cessation. In experiment 1, 6 goats were subjected to cessation of milking for 3 d in both udder halves, whereas in experiment 2, 6 other goats were subjected to cessation of milking for 3 d only in 1 udder half. In experiment 1, the milk yield was lower on d 5 and 6, whereas the mean SCC was higher on d 5 compared with d 0 before temporary milking cessation. The concentrations of goat DEFB1, S100A7, cathelicidin-2 and 7 (CATHL-2 and 7), IgA, and lactoferrin were increased after temporary cessation of milking. In experiment 2, the milk yield was lower between d 5 and 7, whereas the mean SCC was higher between d 4 and 7 compared with d 0. The concentrations of CATHL-2, IgA, and lactoferrin were increased after temporary cessation of milking only in the udder half subjected to milking cessation. These results suggest that temporary cessation of milking increase the SCC and concentration of several innate immune components in milk without infection, which may contribute to mastitis treatment.

Concentrations of antimicrobial components in milk of Japanese Black cows and their differences from dairy cows

“…Lower milk production in beef cows than that in dairy cows may be responsible for the observed higher LAP concentrations. Such an increase in the concentration of antimicrobial components owing to lower milk yields has also been described in other studies [ 12 ]. Interestingly, even the milk from healthy dairy cows contains a certain concentration of LAP; however, this concentration has been reported to vary widely among individuals [ 9 ].…”

“…The sodium ion (Na + ) concentration was measured using a LAQUAtwin Na-11 pocket meter (HORIBA, Kyoto, Japan). Competitive ELISA was performed to measure the levels of lingual antimicrobial peptide (LAP), S100A7, and S100A8, as previously reported [ 7 , 12 , 22 ]. Milk LF was measured with the sandwich method using a commercial kit (Bethyl Laboratories Inc., Montgomery, TX, USA; Suzuki et al ., 2022).…”

Differences in antimicrobial components between bacterial culture‐positive and culture‐negative bovine clinical mastitis milk

“…Leukocytes and mammary epithelial cells activated by inflammation produce various antimicrobial components, such as lactoferrin (Huang et al, 2012), lysozyme (Schmitz et al, 2004), LPO (Isobe et al, 2011), and LAP (Isobe, 2017; Isobe, Morimoto, et al, 2009). Moreover, endotoxins or proinflammatory cytokines inhibit milk production in mammary epithelial cells (Matsunaga et al, 2018; Tsugami, Wakasa, Kawahara, Nishimura, & Kobayashi, 2021), which promotes a relative increase in the concentration of antimicrobial components by a decrease in milk yield (Purba et al, 2020, 2021). In addition, serious inflammation causes the collapse of the blood‐milk barrier, which is composed of arrangement of mammary epithelial cells with less‐permeable tight junctions (Baumgartner et al, 2017; Tsugami, Wakasa, Kawahara, Watanabe, et al, 2021).…”

Menthol application on healthy and inflamed goat udders changes antimicrobial components in milk

“…Goat IgA concentrations were measured using a commercial kit (Bethyl Laboratories, Montgomery, TX, USA) with some modifications, as reported previously (Purba et al, 2021; Suzuki et al, 2022).…”