title: Exogenous melatonin reduces somatic cell count of milk in Holstein cows.
abstract: High somatic cell counts in milk caused by mastitis significantly influence the quality of milk and result in substantial annual economic loss. This study evaluated the beneficial effects of melatonin (MT) on milk somatic cell count (SCC) in cows. To examine the effects of melatonin on SCC, one hundred twenty cows were divided into four groups based on milk SCC. In each group, half of the cows were treated with melatonin (S.C.). Melatonin treatment significantly reduced milk SCC. To explore the potential mechanism, 20 cows with relatively high SCC were selected to evaluate the biochemical and immunological profiles of their blood after melatonin treatment. Treatment with MT significantly reduced SCC in milk, lowered serum cortisol concentrations and increased the levels of albumin, alanine transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase. Following treatment with MT, the concentration of IgG and IgM rose transiently then decreased significantly, similar to changes observed for white blood cells and lymphocytes. In conclusion, MT treatment improved the quality of milk by reducing SCC. This may be due to melatonin improving immune activity in cows.
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Minghui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.|National Animal Husbandry Service, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: National Animal Husbandry Service, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jingli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Menglong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhiyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yukun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kuanfeng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Pengyun
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Guoshi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003612:Dairying; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D007774:Lactation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008413:Mastitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008892:Milk / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D008550:Melatonin; D006854:Hydrocortisone