FLOW CYTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF MILK FOR IDENTIFICATION OF UDDER HEALTH DURING EARLY LACTATION IN HIGH AND LOW PRODUCING COWS
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Date
2023
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Publisher
ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL
Abstract
Mastitis, an inflammatory condition of the mammary gland and is classified as clinical or
subclinical depending on the visibility of the effects of inflammation of the mammary
gland. The present study was undertaken to study the total and differential milk cell counts
and udder surface temperature in subclinical and clinical mastitis in both indigenous and
cross bred cows. A total of 72 cows were selected from Livestock Research Center (LRC),
ICAR- NDRI, Karnal and divided into two groups, 36 indigenous (Sahiwal) and 36
crossbred (Karan Fries) cows, and further subdivided into three groups viz., healthy
(n=12), subclinical (n=12) and clinical mastitis (n=12) according to their somatic cell
count (SCC) and California mastitis test (CMT). Milk from each cow was collected
hygienically and evaluated for milk composition, SCC, and DLC. DLC was done by two
methods, first by manual microscopic method and then by flowcytometry method by using
specific antibodies. Macrophage and lymphocyte percentages decreased with increasing
milk SCC, while neutrophil percentages increased during subclinical and clinical mastitis
in both the breeds when DLC was done by manual microscopic method. Similar results
were observed for neutrophils and macrophages percentage when it was done using flow
cytometric method. However, for lymphocytes, two cells i.e., CD4 T helper cells and CD8
cytotoxic cells were evaluated by flowcytometric method. CD4 T helper cells and CD8
cytotoxic cells increased significantly from healthy to sub clinical cases and they decreased
from sub clinical to clinical cases in both group of animals but not significantly. Also, ratio
of neutrophil to macrophage (N:M) helps in better understanding of mastitis. Udder health
was also found to be correlated with udder surface temperature as per objective of this
study. It was observed that udder surface temperature increased significantly from healthy
to sub clinical to clinical cases in both the group of the animals. It was also observed that
with increasing SCC i.e., with increasing udder infection, udder surface temperature
increased. This study indicated that DLC by flow cytometric technique and udder surface
temperature can give a vivid picture of the condition of udder health.