Impact of prepartum administration of a vaccine against infectious calf diarrhea on nonspecific colostral immunoglobulin concentrations of dairy cows

Abstract

Passive transfer of colostral immunoglobulins from the cow to the calf is essential for calf health. The objective of this study was to determine if prepartum administration of a vaccine stimulates increased concentrations of colostral immunoglobulins of dairy cows beyond what is explained by vaccine-specific immunoglobulins. A prospective cohort study was conducted on a spring-calving commercial dairy farm that had a policy of only vaccinating cows with even ear tag numbers with a calf diarrhea vaccine, while cows with odd ear tag numbers were left unvaccinated. Cows in the vaccinated group (even ear tag numbers, n=204) received a sensitizer and booster vaccination with a vaccine against bovine rotavirus (serotypes G6 and G10), bovine coronavirus and E. coli having the K99 pili adherence factor. A sensitizer was given because the study vaccine was different to the vaccine previously used. Cows in the control group (odd ear tag numbers, n=194) received a 2 mL subcutaneous sterile saline solution. Both groups received two treatments at a three-week interval, completing the treatments approximately two weeks prior to the planned start of calving. During the calving period, technicians separated calves from cows immediately after parturition and prior to suckling, and cows were completely milked out within six hours of parturition. Vaccine-specific, total, and nonvaccine-specific (total minus vaccine-specific) concentrations of immunoglobulin classes A, G1, G2a and M (IgA, IgG1, IgG2a and IgM respectively) were quantified by mass spectrometry for 20 colostrum samples from each treatment group. Predicted mean non-vaccine-specific colostral IgM concentrations were 8.76 (95% CI =7.18-10.67) and 5.78 (95% CI =4.74-7.05) mg/ml for vaccinated and control cows respectively (p =0.005). Predicted mean non-vaccine-specific colostral IgG1 concentrations were 106.08 (95% CI =92.07-120.08) and 95.30 (95% CI =81.30-109.31) mg/ml among vaccinated and control cows respectively, however these means were not significantly different (p=0.278). It is thus possible that the vaccine, in addition to specifically managing infectious calf diarrhea, may also have non-specific benefits by improving colostrum quality through increased non-vaccine-specific colostrum IgM concentrations. Further research is necessary to determine the mechanism for these preliminary findings, whether the effect may occur in other immunoglobulin classes, and what impacts it may have on calf health outcomes.

Immunogenic fusion proteins induce neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the serum and milk of sheep

“…. titers are key to the commercial viability of polyclonal preparations from ruminants, especially since the concentration of total IgGs in bovine colostrum drops rapidly from ~50 g/L to ~0.5 g/L in milk [20] and antigen-specific antibodies may be less than 2% of total colostral antibodies following bovine vaccination [31].…”

“…Colostrum samples were thoroughly mixed, and 2 mL samples were centrifuged at 17,000 g for 10 mins at 4 • C to separate the protein-rich supernatant from the unwanted fat component. Ovine IgG1, IgA and IgM concentrations were determined by LC-MS/MS using a stable isotope dilution assay with heavily-labelled internal peptide standards [31]. Briefly, a known volume of colostrum sample was digested overnight at 37 • C with trypsin and internal standards.…”

Immunogenic fusion proteins induce neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the serum and milk of sheep

“…More recently, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has generated renewed interest in prophylactic ruminant antibodies that potentially limit household viral transmission with at least one clinical trial currently underway (Uusküla et al, 2022). High antibody titers are key to the commercial viability of polyclonal preparations from ruminants, especially since the concentration of total IgGs in bovine colostrum drops rapidly from ~50 g/L to ~0.5 g/L in milk (Elfstrand et al, 2002) and antigen-specific antibodies may be less than 2% of total colostral antibodies following bovine vaccination (Chambers et al, 2022).…”

“…Colostrum samples were thoroughly mixed, and 2 mL samples were centrifuged at 17,000 g for 10 mins at 4 °C to separate the protein-rich supernatant from the unwanted fat component. Ovine IgG1, IgA and IgM concentrations were determined by LC-MS/MS using a stable isotope dilution assay with heavily-labelled internal peptide standards (Chambers et al, 2022). Briefly, a known volume of colostrum sample was digested overnight at 37 °C with trypsin and internal standards.…”

Invited review: Bovine neonatal morbidity and mortality—Causes, risk factors, incidences, sequelae and prevention

“…This can best be achieved by ensuring newborn calves receive an adequate volume (~8% of body weight) of hygienic, high quality (>50 IgG/L) colostrum (first milk) within the first 2 h of life (Lopez & Heinrichs, 2022). The benefits of this regime may be augmented by maternal vaccination against GI pathogens in the month before calving during colostrogenesis (Chambers et al, 2022). While studies show variable benefits of feeding pre‐ or probiotics to neonatal calves to prevent calf diarrhoea (Wang et al, 2023; Medrano‐Galarza et al, 2018), routine prophylactic or metaphylactic antimicrobial use (AMU) is no longer recommended in order to reduce the risks of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), (Mee et al, 2022).…”