title: Relationship between stress levels of the antepartum cow and her newborn calf.
abstract: We investigated the relationship of the stress levels of the dam before and after delivery to that of her offspring soon after birth. Eight pregnant cows were penned 7 days before calving. Blood was taken from the jugular vein of cows at -7, 1, 2 and 3 days from calving. Blood was also taken from newborn calves at 6 h and 1 and 2 days after birth. Concentrations of cortisol and immunoglobulin G in blood and colostrum were examined. Pearson's correlation coefficient showed that the higher the plasma cortisol concentration of a cow before calving, the higher that of its calf after birth (all P < 0.01). In addition, path analysis demonstrated that the direct effect of the plasma cortisol concentration of the dam before calving on the plasma cortisol concentration of her calf after birth was 0.971 (P < 0.01). However, the colostrum cortisol concentration correlated with neither plasma cortisol concentrations of cows before calving nor that of calves after birth. Unlike cortisol, a clear correlation of immunoglobulin G concentrations in plasma and colostrum was not observed between cows and calves. The results indicate stress is transferred from a cow to her newborn calf not by way of the colostrum but through the placenta.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Azabu University, Sagamihara, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsuji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uetake
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D002417:Cattle; D003126:Colostrum / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D058725:Peripartum Period / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: calf; colostrum; cow; dam; stress