Effect of probiotic and prebiotic supplementations in dietary dairy cows on colostrum IgG concentration and passive immune transfer to calves.

Nadjiba Beldjouhar; Mohamed Amine Ayad; Mohamed Said Saim; Dahia Saidj

Nadjiba Beldjouhar university of Tiaret, veterinary sciences institute, laboratory of improvement and Valorization of Local Animal Productions, Tiaret, Algeria
Mohamed Amine Ayad university of Tiaret, veterinary sciences institute, laboratory of Animal Hygiene and Pathologies, Tiaret, Algeria
Mohamed Said Saim university of Tiaret, veterinary sciences institute, laboratory of Animal Hygiene and Pathologies, Tiaret, Algeria
Dahia Saidj Veterinary Sciences Institute, Saad Dahleb University, 1, B.P. 270, Route de Soumâa, 09000. Blida, Algeria

Keywords: Dairy cows; Probiotic; Prebiotic; Colostrum; Immunoglobulin.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of supplementing dairy cows with probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics to improve the immunological quality of the cow’s colostrum and the transfer of passive immunity in their calves, and at the same time to evaluate the Brix refractometer as an effective tool to measure the immunoglobulin (IgG) concentration in colostrum in comparison with the golden test Radial Immunodiffusion (RID). Thirty days before the expected calving date, forty five Montbeliarde cows (8 primiparous, and 37 multiparous) were divided into four groups, Control group(CNT; n=13) received dry period diet (DPD) with no supplementation, yeast group (SC; n=13) received dry period diet supplemented with 5g/day/cow of live yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (probiotic), yeast wall fraction group (YWF; n=10) supplemented with 5g/day/cow of yeast wall fraction (mannans and β-glucans; prebiotic) and the Mixture group (MIX; n=10) received dry period diet with a combination of 5g of yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and 5 g of yeast wall fraction(mannans and β-glucans) (synbiotic). Colostrum samples were collected in sterile universal containers immediately after calving and frozen at - 20°C until analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS “IBM SPSS V. 22.0”. Significant differences in colostrum IgG concentration (IgG˃50g/l) were shown for the yeast group and mixture compared to control group (P˂0.01) compared to the control group. There was no effect of body condition score (BCS), age, parity and the sex of neonates (P˃0.05) on colostrum IgG concentration. The correlation between Radial immunodiffusion (RID) and refractometer was high and positive (r=0.785) for colostrum. In conclusion, supplementation of dairy cows with probiotics and synbiotics positively improved the immunological quality of colostrum. The Brix refractometer stands as an accessible and cost-effective tool for on-farm use, assisting producers and veterinarians in improving their calf health management programs. Therefore, avoid fatal neonatal diseases in newborns.