Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T22:52:45.209Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Intramammary infusion of a live culture for treatment of bovine mastitis: effect of live lactococci on the mammary immune response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2008

Fiona Crispie
Affiliation:
Biotechnology Department, Moorepark Food Research Centre, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland Dairy Production Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
Mercedes Alonso-Gómez
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Collette O'Loughlin
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Katja Klostermann
Affiliation:
Biotechnology Department, Moorepark Food Research Centre, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland Dairy Production Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
James Flynn
Affiliation:
Dairy Production Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
Seán Arkins
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
William Meaney
Affiliation:
Dairy Production Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
R Paul Ross*
Affiliation:
Biotechnology Department, Moorepark Food Research Centre, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
Colin Hill
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
*
*For correspondence; e-mail: paul.ross@teagasc.ie

Abstract

In the accompanying article, we demonstrated that a live culture of Lactococcus lactis compares favourably with antibiotics for treatment of bovine mastitis in two initial field trials. In an effort to explain the mechanism involved, this study investigated the effect of culture administration on the local immune response. In this respect we initially observed that infusion of the live culture Lactococcus lactis stimulated substantial recruitment of polymorphonucleocytes (PMN) and lymphocytes to the udder. For instance, in one assay, quarters infused with the probiotic experienced a dramatic increase (~20 000-fold) in neutrophils over the first 48-h period from an average value of 83·6 cells/ml pre-treatment to 1·78×106 cells/ml 48 h post-infusion. Levels of the acute phase proteins haptaglobin and milk amyloid A were also elevated significantly in comparison with controls following infusion of the culture. The results of flow cytometric assays also demonstrated that while infusion of a live lactococcal culture led to an enhanced recruitment of PMN to the udder (from 1·85×104 cells/ml pre-infusion to 1·45×106 cells/ml 24 h post-infusion) cell-free supernatant from the same culture was not able to do so, indicating that live Lc. lactis can specifically trigger the mammary immune response to elicit PMN accumulation. These results suggest that the mechanism responsible for this probiotic treatment of mastitis is associated with stimulation of the host intramammary immune system.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alvarez-Olmos, MI & Oberhelman, RA 2001 Probiotic agents and infectious diseases: a modern perspective on a traditional therapy. Clinical Infectious Diseases 32 15671576CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alonso-Gómez, M, Meaney, WJ & Arkins, S 2005 An efficient method for the detection and identification of leukocyte populations in small volumes of milk by flow cytometry. In 9th Congresso da Socidade Ibérica de Citometria 1821 May. Porto, Portugal PO016Google Scholar
Barkema, HW, Schukken, YH & Zadoks, RN 2006 The role of cow, pathogen and treatment regimen in the therapeutic success of bovine Staphylococcus aureus mastitis. Journal of Dairy Science 6 18771895CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burton, JL & Erskine, RJ 2003 Immunity and mastitis: some new ideas for an old disease. Veterinary Clinics of North America Food Animal Practices 19 145CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burvenich, C, Paape, MJ, Hill, AW, Guidry, AJ, Miller, RH, Heyneman, R, Kremer, WDJ & Brand, A 1994 Role of the neutrophil leukocyte in the local and systemic reactions during experimentally induced Escherichia coli mastitis in cows immediately after calving. Veterinary Quarterly 16 4549Google Scholar
Crispie, F, Twomey, D, Flynn, J, Hill, C, Ross, P & Meaney, W 2005 The lantibiotic lacticin 3147 produced in a milk-based medium improves the efficacy of a bismuth-based teat seal in cattle deliberately infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of Dairy Research 72 159167CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cross, ML 2002 Microbes versus microbes: immune signals generated by probiotic lactobacilli and their role in protection against microbial pathogens. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology 1442 19Google Scholar
Eckersall, PD, Young, FJ, Nolan, AM, Knight, CH, McComb, C, Waterston, MM, Hogarth, CJ, Scott, EM & Fitzpatrick, JL 2006 Acute phase proteins in bovine milk in an experimental model of Staphylococcus aureus subclinical mastitis. Journal of Dairy Science 89 14881501Google Scholar
Greene, WA, Gano, AM, Smith, KL, Hogan, JS & Todhunter, DA 1991 Comparison of probiotic and antibiotic therapy of cattle with elevated somatic cell counts. Journal of Dairy Science 74 29762981Google Scholar
Gronlund, U, Johannisson, A and Persson Waller, K 2006 Changes in blood and milk lymphocyte sub populations during acute and chronic phases of Staphylococcus aureus induced bovine mastitis. Research in Veterinary Science 80 147154Google Scholar
Kai, K, Komine, Y, Komine, K, Asai, K, Kuroisi, T, Kozutsumi, T, Itagaki, M, Ohta, M & Kumagai, K 2002 Effects of bovine lactoferrin by the intramammary infusion in cows with staphylococcal mastitis during the early non-lactating period. Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 64 873878Google Scholar
Klostermann, K, Crispie, F, Flynn, J, Ross, RP, Hill, C & Meaney, WJ 2008 Intramammary infusion of a live culture of Lactococcus lactis for treatment of bovine mastitis: comparison to antibiotic treatment in field trials. Journal of Dairy Research. In pressGoogle Scholar
Melchior, MB, Fink-Gremmels, J & Gastar, W 2006 Comparative assessment of the antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bovine mastitis in biofilm versus planktonic culture. Journal of Veterinary Medicine Series B Infectious Diseases and Veterinary Public Health 53 326332CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pyörälä, S 2003 Indicators of inflammation in the diagnosis of mastitis. Veterinary Research 34 565578CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, MP, Meaney, WJ, Ross, RP & Hill, C 1998 Evaluation of lacticin 3147 and a teat seal containing this bacteriocin for inhibition of mastitis pathogens. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 64 22872290CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, MP, Flynn, J, Hill, C, Ross, RP & Meaney, WJ 1999 The natural food grade inhibitor, lacticin 3147 can prevent mastitis in non-lactating dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 82 26252631Google Scholar
Shamay, A, Shapiro, F, Leitner, G and Silanikove, N 2003 Infusions of casein hydrolysates into the mammary gland disrupt tight junction integrity and induce involution in cows. Journal of Dairy Science 86 12501258CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silanikove, N, Shapiro, F, Shamay, A & Leitner, G 2005 Role of xanthine oxidase, lactoperoxidase, and NO in the innate immune system of mammary secretion during active involution in dairy cows: manipulation with casein hydrolysates. Free Radicals Biological Medicine 38 11391151Google Scholar
Twomey, DP, Wheelock, AI, Flynn, J, Meaney, WJ, Hill, C & Ross, RP 2000 Protection against Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in dairy cows using a bismuth-based teat seal containing the bacteriocin, lacticin 3147. Journal of Dairy Science 83 19811988Google Scholar