Relationship of vitamin E supplementation and antimicrobial treatment with acute-phase protein responses in cattle affected by naturally acquired respiratory tract disease

Abstract

Serum Hap concentrations are of potential value for use in assessing feedlot cattle that may become ill as a result of respiratory tract disease and for use in monitoring treatment efficacy.

Acute Phase Proteins as Markers of Diseases in Farm Animals

“…Most of the investigations about the synthesis of acute phase proteins in respiratory diseases have been focused on the immediate or acute phase response to the infection (Wittum et al, 1996;Carter et al, 2002). However, only a few reports on the acute phase protein production in chronic inflammatory conditions have been published, and the data are not uniform.…”

“…Higher concentrations of Hp, SAA and Fbg in blood samples observed in this study agree with previous findings which reported that the concentrations of these proteins rise in cattle with repiratory diseases (Godson et al, 1996;Wittum et al, 1996). Carter et al (2002) indicated also the usefulness of APP as important diagnostic factors in calves with respiratory infections, and suggested them as valuable markers for differentiating animals with respiratory signs from healthy ones. In the presented study, significantly higher concentrations of the evaluated acute phase proteins in calves with clinical signs of respiratory diseases were found for Hp, SAA, as well as fibrinogen, although there was a considerable variation between the aforementioned inflammatory proteins in the ability to react to an acute phase response causing event.…”

“…Heegaard et al (2000) found that the magnitude and duration of serum Hp concentration correlated well with the severity of experimental respiratory infection, whereas serum SAA concentrations increased more rapidly following infection. Carter et al (2002) and Gånheim et al (2007) concluded that measurement of blood Hp concentrations is a better way to predict morbidity in calves than SAA. However, our results obtained in serum concentrations of Hp and SAA in calves affected by chronic respiratory diseases indicate that both indices may be useful in the determination of the severity and prognosis of the disease.…”

“…Therefore, the aforementioned authors concluded that Hp is a more sensitive indicator of diseases in the investigated herds. Similarly, Carter et al (2002) suggested that even if SAA is more sensitive and rapidly reacting biomarker, haptoglobin might be preferable in the field, its bigger and more prolonged response is giving rise to its usefulness to detecting disease. The usefulness of the measurement of plasma Fbg concentrations in cattle has been demonstrated mostly by the diagnosis of traumatic conditions, monitoring of postoperative complications, e.g.…”

“…Haptoglobin is used to monitor the treatment efficacy of antibiotics in cows with toxic puerperal metritis (Smith et al, 1998). Hp is also used to determine the effect of anti-inflammatory drugs following the castration of bull calves, the relative effects of bacterial contamination and involution of the uterus in dairy cows after calving, the effects of treatment in transport-stressed feedlot cattle, the effects of tail docking or surgical castration, and the changes in the blood profile of neonatal calves (Carter et al, 2002). Haptoglobin is also induced in cows with fatty liver syndrome, by starvation, and in calves following stress associated with road transport (Katoh et al, 2002).…”