Vet World   Vol.10   March-2017  Article-12

Research Article

Veterinary World, 10(3): 342-347

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2017.342-347

Association between udder morphology and in vitro activity of milk leukocytes in high yielding crossbred cows

Tripti Sharma (Buragohain), Pradip Kumar Das, Prabal Ranjan Ghosh, Dipak Banerjee, and Joydip Mukherjee
Department of Veterinary Physiology, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Kolkata - 700 037, West Bengal, India.

Background and Aim: The present investigation was conducted to study the association between udder morphology and in vitro activity of milk leukocytes in high yielding crossbred cows.

Materials and Methods: A total of 48 healthy high yielding crossbred cows were selected for the study. The udder configuration and teat/udder morphology were recorded before milking. Milk samples (100 ml/cow) were collected aseptically. Milk somatic cell counts (SCC) and milk differential leukocyte counts were performed microscopically. Milk leukocytes (viz., neutrophils, lymphocytes, and macrophages) were isolated from milk samples by density gradient centrifugation. Phagocytic index (PI) of milk neutrophils and macrophages were evaluated by colorimetric nitro blue tetrazolium assay. Lymphocytes proliferation response was estimated by MTT assay and expressed as stimulation index.

Results: There was a significant (p<0.01) positive correlation between milk SCC with mid teat diameter, teat base diameter and significant (p<0.05) negative correlation between milk SCC and the height of the teat from the ground. Milk SCC was found to be significantly (p<0.01) lower in bowl-shaped udder and higher (p<0.01) in pendulous type. Milk macrophage percentage was positively (p<0.01) correlated with udder circumference. PI of milk neutrophil was negatively (p<0.01) correlation between teat base diameter, and PI of milk macrophages was found to be positively (p<0.01) correlated with teat apex diameter. Both PI of milk neutrophils and macrophages was found to be significantly (p<0.01) lower in the animals having flat and round teat and pendulous type of udder. In vitro PI of milk neutrophils was found to be significantly (p<0.01) lower in flat teat. In vitro PI of milk macrophages was found to be significantly (p<0.01) lower in the round and flat teats compared to pointed and cylindrical teats.

Conclusion: Udder risk factors such as teat shape and size, teat to floor distance, udder shape, and size may decrease the in vitro activity of milk leukocytes hence facilitates the incidence intramammary infections. Keywords: cows, leukocytes, milk, morphology, teat, udder.

Keywords: cows, leukocytes, milk, morphology, teat, udder.

How to cite this article: Sharma (Buragohain) T, Das PK, Ghosh PR, Banerjee D, Mukherjee J (2017) Association between udder morphology and in vitro activity of milk leukocytes in high yielding crossbred cows, Veterinary World, 10(3): 342-347.

Received: 28-10-2016  Accepted: 06-02-2017     Published online: 22-03-2017

Corresponding author: Joydip Mukherjee   E-mail: joyphy@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2017.342-347

Copyright: , et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.