Effect of a Non-Specific Immune Stimulant (Amplimune™) on the Health and Production of Light Feedlot Calves

Abstract

An increasing concern from both producers and consumers regarding the overuse and misuse of antibiotics leading to the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens dictates the need for new research objectives. These new objectives should be directed towards exploring different management practices and the use of antibiotic alternative products to treat or prevent disease in cattle and other food producing animals. The main objective of this pilot study was to determine if a bovine immunotherapeutic (Amplimune™) derived from Mycobacterium cell wall fraction (MCWF) decreases the incidence and severity of clinical conditions that require antimicrobial treatments, thus reducing the cost of treatment and improving weight gain in young calves entering the feedlot. Four hundred and eighty (480) Holstein steer calves were transported from a large commercial ranch in New Mexico to a feedlot in California. Twenty-four hours following arrival, calves were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups (control, MCWF 1 and MCWF 3) and allocated to feedlot pens. Animals in MCWF 1 and MCWF 3 groups received either 1mL or 3mL of Amplimune™ subcutaneously, while the animals in the control group were untreated. For the purpose of the study, metaphylactic use of antibiotics was omitted at the time of arrival. Animals were monitored for 102 days and information on the health status, clinical conditions, treatments and body weights were collected and subjected to further analysis. Groups that received Amplimune™ had 13 and 39 less treated animals compared to controls, resulting in calculated savings of USD 535.84 and USD 1021.36 for the MCWF 1 and MCWF 3 groups respectively. In addition, calves treated with Amplimune™ gained a total of 580lbs. and 1,630lbs. more. Overall, there was a significant beneficial effect observed with regards to morbidity, average weight gain, and medical cost per head for both MCWF groups when compared to controls. Results from this pilot study suggest Amplimune™ as a substitute for antibiotic prophylactic treatment in calves entering feedlot.

Oral vaccination stimulates neutrophil functionality and exerts protection in a Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection model

“…There has been controversy on whether inactivated vaccines maintain their innate training effects, mainly because evidence from human clinical data has claimed that the beneficial non-specific effects would be limited to live vaccines 63 , as seen by comparison of BCG and gamma-irradiated BCG 64 . On the other hand, there is proof that a vaccine composed of cell wall components from Mycobacterium phlei in oil-emulsion was able to decrease overall mortality in feedlot cattle 65 , and also to improve survival after enterotoxigenic E. coli challenge in neonatal cattle 66 . In any case, we believe that this training effect in inactivated vaccines should be revised since we have demonstrated cross protective effects of heterologous inactivated vaccines against PTB in the present study.…”

The Effect of Inactivated Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis Vaccine on the Response to a Heterologous Bacterial Challenge in Pigs

“…E.g., mice pre-treated with FCA had markedly reduced viremia following inoculation with Foot-and-mouth disease virus (10). Recently, a commercial veterinary vaccine containing cell wall components from M. phlei in oil-emulsion was reported to decrease all-cause morbidity in feedlot cattle (11), and to improve survival after Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli induced diarrhea in neonatal cattle (12). Early murine experimental studies of non-specific effects also found that heat-killed BCG or M. fortuitum administered s.c. or i.p.…”

Does the immune stimulant Amplimune® modulate humoral and cytokine responses to commercial bovine respiratory disease vaccines in cattle?

“…Amplimune ® is an immune stimulant based on the cell-wall fractions of M. phlei, a naturally occurring non-pathogenic mycobacterium (Filion et al 1999), emulsified in squalane and phosphate buffered solution (PBS). It is commercially available in the USA, Canada and New Zealand (Nosky et al 2017). In these jurisdictions, it is used for the primary objective of preventing and treating an assortment of livestock diseases via augmentation of non-specific activity of the innate immune system (Griebel 1999;Nosky et al 2017).…”

“…It is commercially available in the USA, Canada and New Zealand (Nosky et al 2017). In these jurisdictions, it is used for the primary objective of preventing and treating an assortment of livestock diseases via augmentation of non-specific activity of the innate immune system (Griebel 1999;Nosky et al 2017). For example, the health and clinical signs in dairy calves suffering from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection were significantly improved when calves were administered Amplimune (Romanowski et al 2017).…”