title: The influence of colostral leukocytes on the immune system of the neonatal calf. I. Effects on lymphocyte responses.
abstract: The influence of colostral leukocytes on lymphocyte counts in the blood of calves and on lymphocyte responses, in particular the Concanavalin A-induced blastogenic response in vitro and the formation of antibodies against sheep erythrocytes, was investigated for four weeks postnatum using four experimental groups. The calves received either complete colostrum (COL+, n = 16), cell-depleted colostrum (COL-, n = 16), colostral cell-supplemented milk substitute (MS+, n = 7) or pure milk substitute (MS-, n = 6) during their first three days of life. In contrast to the calves fed with cell-depleted colostrum (COL-) the calves fed with complete colostrum (COL+) showed no decrease of lymphocyte numbers in the blood on the second day of life, uniform blastogenic responses to two different Concanavalin A concentrations, slightly enhanced antibody formation against sheep erythrocytes and a high spontaneous proliferation of mononuclear cells during the first week of life. In the calves fed with milk-substitute supplemented with colostral cells (MS+) a higher blastogenic response to Concanavalin A and an intensified formation of antibodies against sheep erythrocytes was observed as compared to the MS- calves. A passage of vital colostral lymphocytes through the intestinal wall is postulated. They seem to stimulate and regulate the blastogenic response and enhance the T-helper cell-dependent formation of antibodies against sheep erythrocytes in calves.
authors.affiliation: Tierärztliches Institut, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riedel-Caspari
authors.forename: F W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000276:immunology*; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002417:Cattle / Q000276:immunology*; D003126:Colostrum / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male