THE IMMUNOGLOBULIN COMPOSITION OF COLOSTRUM AND THE PERSISTENCE OF ACQUIRED IMMUNOGLOBULINS AND SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES IN THE CALF

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1 THE IMMUNOGLOBULIN COMPOSITION OF COLOSTRUM AND THE PERSISTENCE OF ACQUIRED IMMUNOGLOBULINS AND SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES IN THE CALF O.C. Straub, W. Matthaeus To cite this version: O.C. Straub, W. Matthaeus. THE IMMUNOGLOBULIN COMPOSITION OF COLOSTRUM AND THE PERSISTENCE OF ACQUIRED IMMUNOGLOBULINS AND SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES IN THE CALF. Annales de Recherches Vétérinaires, INRA Editions, 1978, 9 (2), pp <hal > HAL Id: hal Submitted on 1 Jan 1978 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

2 THE IMMUNOGLOBULIN COMPOSITION OF COLOSTRUM AND THE PERSISTENCE OF ACQUIRED IMMUNOGLOBULINS AND SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES IN THE CALF O.C. STRAUB W. MATTHAEUS Federal Research Institute for Animal Virus Diseases, Postfach 1149, D7400 Tijbinaen, Federal Republic of Germany Résumé LA TENEUR EN IMMUNOGLOBULINES DU COLOSTRUM ET LA PERSISTANCE DES IMMU- NOGLOBULINES ACQUISES ET DES ANTICORPS SPECIFIQUES CHEZ LE VEAU. &horbar; On a mesuré les Quantités absolues d immunoglobulines dans 24 échantillons de colostrum. La qualité du colostrum était approximativement constante au cours des 9 heures suivant la parturition. La sécrétion d une vache avortée n a cependant pas les qualités d un colostrum, et ne doit donc pas être donnée aux veaux. Des études détaillées concernant le transfert des anticorps colostraux au nouveau-né montrent qu idéalement deux litres de colostrum doivent être donnés pendant les 12 premières heures. Si le veau provient d une génisse, d une jeune vache ou d un animal nouvellement introduit, il doit recevoir 50 % de son colostrum d une vache plus âgée du troupeau. Le colostrum peut être conservé congelé pendant 15 ans sans perdre trop de ses qualités initiales. Les quantités d immunoglobulines et d anticorps spécifiques (contre l IBR et le P13) transférées, étaient remarquablement élevées, et probablement dues aux infections antérieures des mères par ces germes. Un programme de vaccination périodique des mères en fin de gestation est préconisé. Les vaccins utilisés et leur composition doivent dépendre des conditions locales (germes en cause). 1. Introduction Earlier investigations (Straub 1969) have shown that the levels of specific antibodies in the newborn depend on the amount of colostrum fed and the time after parturition. For further substantiation of that data additional experiments were conducted including the study of the immunoglobulins involved. 2. Material and Methods 2.1. Colostrum: Twenty-five samples of colostrum were taken at various times after parturition and the absolute amounts of immunoglobulins determined by the single radial immunodiffusion test according to Mancini et al. (1965).

3 Serum immunoglobulins IgG, IgA, and IgM were analyzed immunoelectrophoretically in fractions isolated by gel filtration on Sephacryl S-200 superfine. Twenty-one samples were obtained from cows that calved to term, four samples came from a cow that aborted during the 7th month of gestation. Secretion of the mammary gland started on day 3 following the abortion. The composition of the product was studied on days three and four (Tables 1 and 2) Calves: Four calves were fed, at different times, with various amounts of colostrum from their dams which had been exposed to field strains of parainfluenza (Pl)-3- and Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)-virus. A fifth calf serving as control received a preparation of lyophilized gamma-globulins nine hours after parturition. Details may be taken from Fig The calves were kept in isolation units under perfect hygienic conditions. Their temperatures were checked daily and treatment conducted when indicated. Blood for hematology and serology was taken as indicated in Fig Total observation period lasted for 9 months. The methods used for the determination of the specific viral antibodies and the immunoglobulins have already been described (B6gel, 1962; Straub and Wizigman, 1968).

4 3. Results 3.1. Colostrum Studies: The quality of the colostrum was approximately the same during the first nine hours after parturition as summarized in Table 1. Thereafter the contents of IgA and ]gm decrease rapidly. Only the [gg levels remain somewhat elevated for some more hours. In contrast, the quality of the samples

5 taken from the cow that had aborted was poor. This secretion cannot be classified as colostrum (Table 2). Only IgA levels were fairly high Calves Studies: Calf I (Fig. 1) already had a distinct level of IgM when it was born. It remained at about the same level until the fourth day when it increased. IgA and IgG levels showed a slight but constant rise after the administration of the gammaglobulin pre daration. There is a fluent transition from passively aquired to actively produced immunoglobulins. No specific antibodies were detected. The temperatures ranged from 37.9 to 39.1 C, the lymphocyte levels from 2,460 (at parturition) to 7,900 (at an age of two weeks) and the granulocytes from 2,550 (at an age of two months) and 4,700 (at an age of two weeks). There was no sign of clinical illness during the observation period of 6 months Calf F received 600 ml colostrum at 9, 18, 24 and 27 hours after birth. At birth there were no immunoglobulins detectable in the serum. The levels (maximum 27 hours), obtained after the feeding were very low. No IgA could be found after day 4. Although igg and IgM levels show a relative steep rise after the second month of age, IgG did not reach the mean levels of adults at the end of the fourth month. The antibody titers reached are considerably below those of the dam. Serum neutralizing (SN) antibodies against IBR virus have disappeared after the second week, hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI) titers against parainfluenza-3 (PI-3) virus lasted only for 3 days. There was, however, no detectable disease

6 during the whole period. Temperatures remained normal as well as lymphocytes (6,900 at parturition - 3,200 at an age of two months) and granulocytes (1,650 at an age of 5 months and 4,020 at an age of two months). At birth the number of granulocytes was 1,650. Details are given in Fig. 2. The immunoelectrophoretical test revealed also no immunoglobulins in the first serum. Fig. 4. The calf was never ill. Its temperature range lies during the first month between 37.0 and 39.3 C, thereafter between 38.6 and 39.3 C. Number of lymphocytes vary between 4,380 (2 months old) and 6,050 (9 months old). At birth the calf had 5,350 lymphocytes per IL The granulocytes ranged between 4,300 (at birth) and 800 (during the 5th month) Calf H received 1,000 ml colostrum on 4 occasions at 12, 24, 27 and 36 hours after birth. There was a level of IgM present at birth which declined rapidly until the first meal. Thereafter all classes of irnmunoglobulins rose sharply reaching maximum levels at about 36 hours. IgA decreases gradually until the fourth week followed by a steady rise reaching normal levels (74 mg/100 ml) after 2 months. [gg and IgA drop on days 3 and 4, increase then during the next two weeks. Then they decrease again until the end of the second month. At the end of the third month there is again an increase to almost normal adult levels. SN- and Hlantibodies reached levels that are equal or higher than the ones of the dam at the time of parturition. They last almost until 2 (SN) and 4 (HI) months. Details may be taken from Fig. 3. There was also no detectable disease. Temperatures were within the normal range ( &dquo;c during the first month, then C). Lymphocyte numbers (2,570 at parturition - 6,350-4 months old) and those of the granulocytes (14,570 at birth and 3,000 at an age of 3 months) were also in the normal range except for the time at birth, which is due to the stress caused by the dystocia present Calf A received 500 ml colostrum on 5 occasions at 4, 8, 24, 27 and 30 hours after birth. Neither immunoglobulins nor specific antibodies were present in the first serum. Maximum levels were reached by 24 hours or shortly after. At an age of four weeks the immunoglobulins have fallen to a minimum, IgA is especially low (8 mg/ 100 ml). In the fourth month the levels come close to the normal ones. The SN antibodies which reached the level of the dam are lost after one week, the Hi ones &horbar; also as high as in the dam &horbar; persist at low levels for 5 months. Details are contained in Calf D received more colostrum than any of the other calves, 1,000 ml were given at hours 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30 after birth. It exhibited maximum titers of immunoglobulins between 18 (IgM and IgA) and 30 hours (IgG) after birth but it already had low leveis of IgG and IgM at birth. Then the decreases start. The minimums are reached after three months. IgM levels behave differently as may be seen from Fig. 5. The SN and HI antibody titers also reach their maximum during the first 24 hours, comparable to that of the dam as far as SN antibodies are concerned and somewhat lower as to the Hi antibodies. Both types of antibodies do, however, persist longer than in the other calves, namely until the fourth month. This animal fell sick during the second week (temperature 40.9 C) and had to be treated with antibiotics. Thereafter temperatures range from 38.2 to 39.6 C. No other illness was observed. The lymphocyte numbers had a minimum of 1,980 at birth ahd a maximum of 5,180 in an age of two months. The granulocytes minimum was at an age of 7 months, the maximum at birth (2,420). 4. Discussion The findings confirm the previously obtained results according to which a minimum of 1,000 ml colostrum given within the first twelve hours after birth is necessary if the antibody titers in the calf are to reach the level of the dam. On the other hand it could be shown that lower levels do not lead to sickness if environmental conditions are optimal. In contrast, too much colostrum does not seem to lead to any advantage. The amounts of immunoglobulins which were found in the colostrum and in the serum of the calves following colostral feed-

7 ing within the first hours after birth compared with the mean values of adult animals (see: Matthaeus and Straub, 1978) show great differences. The levels of IgA especially, are strikingly high. This is obviously due to the viral respiratory infection the dams had suffered. Also, the immunoglobulins present in some of the sera at birth are supposedly the result of IBR and PI-3. Those sera that were free of any immunoglobulins were also negative in the immunoelectraphoretical test. If the levels of [gg are compared with those of the SN antibodies one is inclined to conclude that those antibodies belong to the IgG class of immunoglobulins. As far as the Hi antibodies are concerned this correlation is not obvious. In one instance (Fig. 5) they run parallel to the IgM curve. Whether or not this is pure coincidence can not be stated. For field work the recommendation to save as much colostrum as possible from the older dams (Straub, 1971) can be repeated. Colostrum should be frozen in amounts of 500 ml and equal amounts of heifers colostrum added to make 1,000 ml in all. Calves from newly introduced cows should be treated likewise. This should be given twice within the first twelve hours, since immuno- later meals do not globulins contained in seem to be transferred as easily and in sufficient quantities. If colostrum is kept frozen (at - C) 20 it can be stored as long as 15 years without losing much of its original quality. It is, however, impossible to use the secretion of a cow following an abortion as substitute, because of its poor immunoglobulin content. The results offer also the explanation why calves sold and collected at a young age react so differently. The problem could be overcome if a general immunization program of the dams cou4d be introduced. Future experiments should determine the proper date for the vaccinations and the components of the vaccines. Calves properly fed would then be protected for the most critical periods from the more severe viral infections. Active vaccination could then regularly start between the 3rd and 4th month of age as proposed earlier (Straub, 1975). Summary The absolute amounts of immunoglobulins contained in twenty-five samples of colostrum were determined. It was found that the quality of the colostrum is approximately the same for the first nine hours following parturition. The secretion of a cow following an abortion, however, does not have the quality of colostrum and should therefore not be saved to feed newborn calves. Detailed studies concerning the transfer of colostral antibodies to the newborn showed that ideally two liters of colostrum should be given within the first twelve hours. If the calf is derived from a heifer, a young cow or from a newly introduced animal it should receive 50% of its colostrum from an older cow of the herd. The colostrum can be The kept in a frozen state for 15 years without losing too much of its original quality. amounts of immunoglobulins and specific antibodies (against Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis and Parainfluenza-3) transferred were remarkably high and most likely due to those infections the dams had suffered from. It is proposed that programs should be introduced whereby dams are regularly vaccinated during the late gestation period. The vaccines used and their composition have to depend on the diseases prevalent in the individual countries and regions. References BOGEL K., Virologische Untersuchungsbefunde bei K61bern mit respiratorischem Syndrom unter besorrderer Berbcksichtigung der Parainfluenza-3-Virusinfektion. t. Teil. Mh. Tierheilk., 13, MANCINI G., CARBONARA A.O., HEREMANS J.F., immunochemical quantitation of antigens by single radial immunodiffusion. Immunochemistry, 2,

8 MA TTHAEUS W., STRAUB O.C., Die neutralisierenden Serumantik6rper normaler und leukotischer Rinder nach der Infektion mit IBR/IPV-Virus. Zbl. Bakt. Hyg. I Abt. Orig. A, 240, STRAUB O.C., WIZIGMANN G., Die Laboratoriumsdiagnose der Infektiosen Bovinen Rhinotracheitis (IBR). Berl. MOnch, Tierarztl. Wschr., 81, STRAUB O.C., Die Ubertragung viraler Antik6rper durch das Kolostrum. Tierarztl. Umschau, 24, STRAUB O.C., Virale Erkrankungen beim Kalb - Diagnose, Prophylaxe, BekAmpfung. In; G. Steger (1978) 12 Jahre Nijrnberger Tierarztliche Referierabende, S STRAUB O.C Vaccination programs for cattle. In: Report Sec. Int. Symp. Inf. Diseases, Varna 1973, publ. in Veterinary Science, Sofia, 12,