Abstract
The study aimed to determine the immune function markers of clinically healthy cows and cows with subclinical and clinical mastitis caused by the coagulase-negative staphylococci. The materials were milk and blood of cows (n = 20; first group) had the clinical mastitis caused by S. aureus and S. haemolyticus, another 20 (second group) had the subclinical mastitis caused by S. aureus and S. haemolyticus, another 20 (third group) were clinically health cows. The milk was examinated by a Californian mastitis test. The immune markers of blood were researched by ELISA using Bovine Elisa Kit (Cloud-CloneCorp. HoustonTX, USA) and relevance methods (The guidelines for the assessment and correction of animal immune status, Voronezh, Russia, 2005). It has been found that the blood of cows of the 2d group had a high level of Interleukin- 2 (15.9±0.4 pg/mL), TNF-α (639.2±19.1 pg/mL), CIC (0.128±0.01 g/L), Serum Bactericidal Activity (78.5±1.4 %) compared with 3d group. It was the reducing of Ig level by 19.6% (20.6±0.3g/L) and Lysozyme activity by 28.4% (2.097±0.02 µg/mL) (P < 0,05-0,001). The comparative analysis of immune function markers in the blood of 1st and 3d groups showed the reduction of TNF-α by 23,3%, Ig level by 19,6 %, Lysozyme activity by 32,8%, T- lymphocytes by 27,2%, and the increasing of CIC by 52,3%, Serum Bactericidal Activity by 6,8%, B- lymphocytes by 10,1% (P < 0,05-0,001), Phagocytic activity of leucocytes by 6,4%. Mastitis events caused by the coagulase-negative staphylococci were associated with reducing of cellular and humoral immunity by twice increasing of Interleukin-2 level.