Lymphocyte subsets and adhesion molecule expression in milk and blood of periparturient dairy cattle

Fifteen Holstein dairy cattle were monitored for lymphocyte subsets and expression of adhesion molecules on cells in milk and blood at parturition and at intervals up to 21 days post-partum. Using flow cytometry, we determined percentages of T cells (CD4+, CD8+, gammadelta) and B cells from milk and blood of these cows. We also measured expression of adhesion molecules (CD62L, LFA-1, LPAM-1, and CD44) on lymphocytes in milk and blood. Significantly higher percentages of CD8+ cells were found in milk than in blood at all time points while significantly higher percentages of B cells were found in blood than in milk at all time points. There were minimal to no significant differences in percentages of CD4+ or gammadelta+ cells between milk and blood. Expression of adhesion molecules was consistently higher on all subsets of milk lymphocytes compared with blood lymphocytes. These differences were most pronounced and statistically significant at calving and in the first week following calving. CD62L, LPAM-1 and CD44 were expressed on a significantly higher percentage of lymphocytes in milk at calving than in milk at subsequent sampling times, while LFA-1 expression on lymphocytes in milk was significantly lower at calving than at subsequent times.     

Innate immune response to intramammary infection with Serratia marcescens and Streptococcus uberis

Streptococcus uberis and Serratia marcescens are Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, respectively, that induce clinical mastitis. Once initial host barrier systems have been breached by these pathogens, the innate immune system provides the next level of defense against these infectious agents. The innate immune response is characterized by the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as increases in other accessory proteins that facilitate host recognition and elimination of the pathogens. The objective of the current study was to characterize the innate immune response during clinical mastitis elicited by these two important, yet less well-studied, Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms. The pro-inflammatory cytokine response and changes in the levels of the innate immune accessory recognition proteins, soluble CD14 (sCD14) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein (LBP), were studied. Decreased milk output, induction of a febrile response, and increased acute phase synthesis of LBP were all characteristic of the systemic response to intramammary infection with either organism. Infection with either bacteria similarly resulted in increased milk levels of IL-1 beta, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, sCD14, LBP, and the complement component, C5a. However, the duration of and/or maximal changes in the increased levels of these inflammatory markers were significantly different for several of the inflammatory parameters assayed. In particular, S. uberis infection was characterized by the sustained elevation of higher milk levels of IL-1 beta, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-gamma, and C5a, relative to S. marcescens infection. Together, these data demonstrate the variability of the innate immune response to two distinct mastitis pathogens.     

Variability of soil water content controlled by evapotranspiration and groundwater–root zone interaction

The central moments of soil water content (SWC) variability at the field scale are determined by soil texture, considering both smooth topography and groundwater table position. The characteristics of variability are governed by other soil factors like soil structure, micro relief, preferred water flow paths, root system characteristics, rock content, etc. This paper shows the integral effect of all these hardly quantifiable factors on SWC variability simulated by the processes of evapotranspiration and groundwater–root zone interaction using the HYDRUS ET model. SWC and soil hydraulic characteristics were spatially determined over a 4.5 ha field during two sampling campaigns under different atmospheric and groundwater conditions, and data distributions were compared to SWC distributions provided by mathematical modeling. The entire spring–summer period of 2003 was then examined for changes of SWC spatial variability. It was found that evapotranspiration influences SWC spatial variability only if SWC is under the critical value when wetter parts of the field evaporate more water than drier parts, resulting in smoothed SWC variability. Under wet conditions the spatial variability of SWC increases by drainage, as those parts of the soil with coarser texture drain faster than finer-textured parts.     

Serologic monitoring of a broiler breeder flock previously affected by inclusion body hepatitis and testing of the progeny for vertical transmission of fowl adenoviruses

The increasing number of clinical cases of inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) associated with fowl adenoviruses (FAdVs) is a growing concern in different parts of the world, including Canada. After an outbreak of IBH in a 10-d-old pullet broiler breeder flock, we serologically monitored the flock from 8 to 46 wk of age, using the agar gel precipitation test (AGPT) offered by diagnostic laboratories and an FAdV group-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbemt assay (ELISA) developed earlier. In addition, we tested 1-d-old progeny for possible vertical transmission of FAdV when the breeder flock approached the peak of egg production by performing virus isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedures on target organs. As in previous studies comparing the 2 tests, ELISA was more sensitive than AGPT. With ELISA, a few birds had weakly positive results at 8 wk of age, and all the birds had strongly positive results from 12 wk of age until the end of the study. This group-specific ELISA is therefore a sensitive and practical way to monitor FAdV antibodies in commercial flocks. None of the 1-d-old chicks tested were positive by PCR, nor was FAdV isolated from the same tissues, indicating an absence of transmission of infectious virus to the progeny. The lack of virus production and transmission could be due to the presence of high antibody titers in the layers.     

The contribution of dominance and inbreeding depression in estimating variance components for litter size in Pannon White rabbits

In a synthetic closed population of Pannon White rabbits, additive (V_A), dominance (V_D) and permanent environmental (V_Pe) variance components as well as doe (b_Fd) and litter (b_Fl) inbreeding depression were estimated for the number of kits born alive (NBA), number of kits born dead (NBD) and total number of kits born (TNB). The data set consisted of 18,398 kindling records of 3883 does collected from 1992 to 2009. Six models were used to estimate dominance and inbreeding effects. The most complete model estimated V_A and V_D to contribute 5.5 ± 1.1% and 4.8 ± 2.4%, respectively, to total phenotypic variance (V_P) for NBA; the corresponding values for NBD were 1.9 ± 0.6% and 5.3 ± 2.4%, for TNB, 6.2 ± 1.0% and 8.1 ± 3.2% respectively. These results indicate the presence of considerable V_D. Including dominance in the model generally reduced V_A and V_Pe estimates, and had only a very small effect on inbreeding depression estimates. Including inbreeding covariates did not affect estimates of any variance component. A 10% increase in doe inbreeding significantly increased NBD (b_Fd = 0.18 ± 0.07), while a 10% increase in litter inbreeding significantly reduced NBA (b_Fl = ?0.41 ± 0.11) and TNB (b_Fl = ?0.34 ± 0.10). These findings argue for including dominance effects in models of litter size traits in populations that exhibit significant dominance relationships.