Technological interventions and advances in the diagnosis of intramammary infections in animals with emphasis on bovine population—a review

Abstract

Mastitis, an inflammation of the udder, is a challenging problem in dairy animals accounting for high economic losses. Disease complexity, degree of economic losses and increasing importance of the dairy industries along with public health concerns envisages devising appropriate diagnostics of mastitis, which can offer rapid, accurate and confirmatory diagnosis. The various diagnostic tests of mastitis have been divided into general or phenotypic and specific or genotypic tests. General or phenotypic tests are those that identify general alterations, which are not specific to any pathogen. Genotypic tests are specific, hence confirmatory for diagnosis of mastitis and include specific culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and its various versions (e.g. qRT-PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification, lateral flow assays, nucleotide sequencing, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and other molecular diagnostic methods. However, for highly specific and confirmatory diagnosis, pure cultures still provide raw materials for more sophisticated diagnostic technological interventions like PCR and nucleotide sequencing. Diagnostic ability of like infra-red thermography (IRT) has been shown to be similar to California mastitis test and also differentiates clinical mastitis from subclinical mastitis cases. As such, IRT can become a convenient and portable diagnostic tool. Of note, magnetic nanoparticles-based colorimetric biosensor assay was developed by using for instance proteolytic activity of plasmin or anti-S. aureus antibody. Last but not least, microRNAs have been suggested to be potential biomarkers for diagnosing bovine mastitis. This review summarizes the various diagnostic tests available for detection of mastitis including diagnosis through general and specific technological interventions and advances.

Advances in therapeutic and managemental approaches of bovine mastitis: a comprehensive review

“…Conventional diagnostic tests for mastitis are usually qualitative with lesser specificity and sensitivity, whereas advanced tests are quantitative, highly specific and sensitive (Godden et al 2017 ; Hussein et al 2018 ; Chakraborty et al 2019 ). Advanced molecular techniques based on phenotyping as well as genotyping methods offer rapid and specific identification methods for diagnosis of mastitis causing pathogens up-to species and subspecies level (Gurjar et al 2012 ).…”

“…Kandeel et al ( 2018 ) opined that all dairy cattle which are admitted to any veterinary hospital should be managed in a way that they are having intramammary infection even when there is no overt clinical mastitis. Various advances in diagnostics applicable for timely and accurate detection of mastitis have been reviewed recently by Chakraborty et al ( 2019 ) and included phenotyping or general type of tests and genotyping or specific type of tests. The former comprises of tests based on physico-biochemical, non-specific cultural and proteomics, while the latter includes a specific culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and its various versions ( e.g., qRT-PCR) (Behera et al 2018 ), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), lateral flow assays (Cornelissen et al 2016; Sheet et al 2016 ), nucleotide sequencing/next-generation sequencing (NGS) (Oultram et al 2017 ), and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) (Barreiro et al 2017 ).…”

“…The conventional methods are relatively cheap, easy, rapidly available, and field applicable, but usually non-specific. The advanced tests are costly, requiring technical skill and sophisticated infrastructure and facilities, but usually accurate and specific for different forms of mastitis (Swarup et al 1989 ; Singh et al 2013 ; Hussein et al 2018 ; Chakraborty et al 2019 ).…”

Systemic inflammatory biomarkers and somatic cell count in dairy cows with subclinical mastitis

“…In recent years, several indicators or biomarkers have been studied in order to diagnose mastitis. Among them, we highlight the measurement of pH, levels of enzymes, proteins, peptides, milk components, and the somatic cell count (SCC), as well as molecular tests, genomics, and proteomic analyses, which can be used alone or combined ( Chakraborty et al., 2019 ). However, most of these methods are not yet widely used, being difficult to access, requiring specialized labor, in addition to having a high cost ( Sharifi et al., 2018 ; Singhal, Kumar, Kanaujia & Virdi, 2015 ; Viguier, Arora, Gilmartin, Welbeck & O'Kennedy, 2009 ).…”

Rumen and Hindgut Bacteria Are Potential Indicators for Mastitis of Mid-Lactating Holstein Dairy Cows

“…To minimize the misdiagnosis of animals from the mastitis condition [ 10 ] for better prevention and treatment, technological interventions in the diagnosis of cow health in the herd have been proposed [ 11 ]. In humans and nonhuman mammals, the suppression and over-colonization of certain bacterial species in the gastrointestinal tract result in increasing disease pathogenicity and emphasize the importance of understanding the interaction between a host and its inhabiting commensal microbes [ 12 ].…”