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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Livestock Issues Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #309948
Title: Plane of nutrition influences the performance, innate leukocyte responses, and resistance to an oral Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium challenge in Jersey calves

Author
item BALLOU, MICHAEL - Texas Tech University
item HANSON, DEVIN - Texas Tech University
item COBB, CLAYTON - Texas Tech University
item OBEIDAT, BELAL - Jordan University Of Science & Technology
item SELLERS, MATTHEW - Texas Tech University
item PEPPER-YOWELL, AMANDA - Texas Tech University
item Carroll, Jeffery - Jeff Carroll
item EARLEYWINE, T. - Land O'Lakes, Inc
item LAWHON, SARA - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Journal of Dairy Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/17/2014
Publication Date: 1/16/2015
Citation: Ballou, M.A., Hanson, D.L., Cobb, C.J., Obeidat, B.S., Sellers, M.D., Pepper-Yowell, A.R., Carroll, J.A., Earleywine, T.J., Lawhon, S.D. 2015. Plane of nutrition influences the performance, innate leukocyte responses, and resistance to an oral Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium challenge in Jersey calves. Journal of Dairy Science. 98(3):1972-1982.

Interpretive Summary: The high incidences of morbidity and mortality among calves during the first few months of life continue to plague the dairy industry. Furthermore, the well-being of a calf depends largely on its health. In general, a very common pre-weaning feeding program is to restrict the quantity of milk fed to calves in order to increase the consumption of calf starter and decrease the age at weaning. However, over the past 2 decades the interest in calf feeding programs that offer greater quantities of milk or milk replacer increased. Therefore, a collaborative study was conducted with scientists from Texas Tech University, Jordan University of Science and Technology, the USDA-ARS Livestock Issues Research Unit, and Texas A&M University to determine if feeding a lower plane of milk replacer nutrition to Jersey calves would increase neutrophil surface expression of L-selectin and oxidative burst. The second hypothesis was that Jersey calves that were fed a high plane of milk replacer nutrition would have improved resistance to an oral Salmonella typhimurium challenge a month after weaning. To test these hypotheses, 2 experiments were conducted that evaluated the effects of feeding either a low or high plane of nutrition during the pre- and immediate post-weaned periods on (1) the performance, health, and leukocyte responses and (2) leukocyte and the pathophysiological response to an oral Salmonella typhimurium challenge a month after weaning. Data from this study indicate that calves fed lower planes of milk replacer have more active neutrophil responses during the pre-weaning period only, and that the innate leukocytes of Jersey calves fed a higher plane of nutrition are increased more rapidly after an oral challenge with a Salmonella typhimurium. The more active innate leukocyte responses likely reduced the incidence of systemic inflammation. However, more data are needed to understand the underlying mechanisms behind the more active neutrophils and the significance of this to the development of the immune system of the calf. This information will be of interest to scientists evaluating the interactions among nutrition, immune function , growth performance, and overall well-being in young calves. The information will also be of specific interest to producers who operate dairy calf farms and/or consulting nutritionist and veterinarians working with these producers.

Technical Abstract: Two experiments were conducted to determine the influence of plane of nutrition on performance, leukocyte responses, and the pathophysiological response to an oral Salmonella typhimurium challenge in Jersey calves. In experiment 1, forty-six (2 ± 1 days of age) calves were randomly assigned to 2 diets; a low (LPN; n=23) and high plane of nutrition (HPN; n=23). Calves in LPN diet were fed 409 grams/day dry matter (DM) of a 20% crude protein (CP) and 20% fat milk replacer (MR); whereas calves in HPN diet were fed 610 and 735 grams/day DM of a 28% CP and 25% fat MR during week 1 and weeks 2 to 6, respectively. Weaning was initiated on day 42 by removing the PM feeding and calves were completely weaned when they were consuming 600 grams of a calf starter after day 49. Calves were fed their respective calf starters through the entire study. Peripheral blood samples were collected on days 0, 7, 21, 28, 42 and 77 for biochemical analyses. Blood samples collected on day 7, 21, 42, and 77 were also analyzed for ex vivo leukocyte responses. In experiment 2, twenty bull calves (LPN; n=11 and HPN; n=9) were orally challenged on day 80 with 1.5 x 10^7 colony forming units of Salmonella typhimurium (ATCC #14028). Indwelling rectal thermometers collected a measurement every 5 minutes. Peripheral blood samples were collected daily at 0800 throughout the study and plasma metabolites and leukocyte responses were determined. The HPN calves had greater (P = 0.001) average daily gain during the pre-weaning period and were more efficient at converting feed to gain throughout experiment 1. The HPN calves had a greater incidence (87.5 versus 45.5%; P = 0.002) and duration of scours (5.5 versus 3.5 days; P = 0.026) than the LPN calves during the first 3 weeks of the study. The LPN calves had greater (P = 0.024) neutrophil surface expression of L-selectin on days 7, 21, and 42, when compared to HPN calves. Following the Salmonella typhimurium challenge, calf starter intake was greater (P = 0.031) among the HPN nutrition calves. In addition, the percentage of neutrophils producing an oxidative burst was greater (P = 0.032) among HPN calves on days 1 to 5 after the challenge. Similarly, the intensity of the oxidative burst tended (P = 0.096) to be greater among the HPN calves on days 2 and 3 post-challenge. The secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha from whole blood cultures stimulated with lipopolysaccharide tended to be greater (P = 0.079) on day 1 and was greater (P = 0.024) on days 5 and 6 among HPN calves. The median ranks of haptoglobin concentrations were lower (P = 0.037) among HPN calves throughout the challenge. Lastly, plasma concentrations of zinc tended to be decreased more among LPN calves (P = 0.098). These data indicate that feeding a HPN to Jersey calves improved average daily gain and feed efficiency, but increased the incidence of scours during the first few weeks of life. However, the HPN Jersey calves may be more resistant to Salmonella typhimurium after weaning.