title: Sera from dams of calves with bovine neonatal pancytopenia contain alloimmune antibodies directed against calf leukocytes.
abstract: Bovine neonatal pancytopenia (BNP) is a bleeding and pancytopenic syndrome in neonatal calves, which recently emerged all over Europe. The present study tested whether antibodies directed against calf leukocytes are present in sera from known BNP dams. Sera from BNP dams (n=11) were combined with leukocytes from 11 calves (5 BNP survivors and 6 controls). After adding a fluorescein conjugated F(ab')(2) fragment of rabbit anti-bovine IgG (H&L) the level of antibody binding was measured by flow cytometry. As control groups both sera from dams from BNP affected (n=48) as from unaffected (n=54) herds were combined with leukocytes from the same calves. With sera from BNP dams, antibody binding could be visualised by immunofluoresence in both peripheral blood as in bone marrow smears. Mean fluoresence intensity values of all leukocyte subpopulations were significantly higher for the BNP dams compared to both control groups (P<0.01). BNP dams showed significantly more antibody binding on multiple leukocyte subpopulations of both BNP survivors and control calves and this from cut off values of MFI 100 onwards (P<0.01). The BNP survivor calves reacted significantly more often with sera from the BNP dams than the control calves (P<0.01). In conclusion the present study supports the hypothesis that BNP is an immune-mediated disease.
authors: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. bart.pardon@ugent.be
authors: Bart
authors: B
authors: Pardon
authors: Edith
authors: E
authors: Stuyven
authors: Sabrina
authors: S
authors: Stuyvaert
authors: Miel
authors: M
authors: Hostens
authors: Jeroen
authors: J
authors: Dewulf
authors: Bruno Maria
authors: BM
authors: Goddeeris
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Cox
authors: Piet
authors: P
authors: Deprez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001666:Binding Sites, Antibody; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D010198:Pancytopenia / Q000151:congenital* / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens