Relationship between colostral immunity and biochemical status in neonatal calves

It is known that in animals with a desmohorial placenta, the unchanged colostral immunoglobulins enter the blood from the digestive tract for the first two days after birth, but remain the most active during the first hours of life. The passive transport of these immunoglobulins is influenced by various factors, including breed traits, housing conditions, and terms, amount and quality of colostrum intake. However, information about the effect of metabolic and antioxidant status of calves on the formation of colostral immunity is not complete until now. We studied the relationship between colostral immunity and biochemical status of newborn Red-and-White breed calves. The results of our investigations conclusively prove that the high level of magnesium and low values of calcium-magnesium ratio in the calves'serum lead to disruption of neuromuscular conduction and decrease muscle tone which are manifested through the later appearance and weakness of sucking reflex in animals. As a result, the volume of maternal colostrum is insufficient for the calves. The long-lasting (more than 48 hours) hypoxia and acidosis, and the increased toxic lipid peroxidation in neonatal calves cause a colostral immunoglobulin transport disorder. Protein and lipid oxidative modifications destruct the antibodies, circulating in newborn calves, and suppress the colostral immunity. In spite of the high level of humoral antibodies to bovine parainfluenza-3 and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis viruses antigens in cow-mothers, not all newborn calves are able to obtain the necessary colostral protection, as it is greatly affected by their metabolic and antioxidant status.