Gut health,stress,and immunity in neonatal dairy calves:the host side of host-pathogen interactions

The cumulative evidence that perinatal events have long-lasting ripple effects through the life of livestock animals should impact future nutritional and management recommendations at the farm level. The implications of fetal programming due to malnutrition, including neonatal survival and lower birth weights, have been characterized,particularly during early and mid-gestation, when placental and early fetal stages are being developed. The accelerated fetal growth during late pregnancy has been known for some time, while the impact of maternal stressors during this time on fetal development and by extent its postnatal repercussions on health and performance are still being defined.Maternal stressors during late pregnancy cannot only influence colostrogenesis but also compromise adequate intestinal development in the fetus, thus, that further limits the newborn's ability to absorb nutrients, bioactive compounds, and immunity(i.e., immunoglobulins, cytokines, and immune cells) from colostrum. These negative effects set the newborn calf to a challenging start in life by compromising passive immunity and intestinal maturation needed to establish a mature postnatal mucosal immune system while needing to digest and absorb nutrients in milk or milk replacer. Besides the dense-nutrient content and immunity in colostrum, it contains bioactive compounds such as growth factors, hormones, and cholesterol as well as molecular signals or instructions [e.g., microRNAs(miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs)] transferred from mother to offspring with the aim to influence postnatal gut maturation. The recent change in paradigm regarding prenatal materno-fetal microbiota inoculation and likely the presence of microbiota in the developing fetus intestine needs to be addressed in future research in ruminants. There still much to know on what prenatal or postnatal factors may predispose neonates to become susceptible to enteropathogens(e.g., enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli), causing diarrhea. From the host-side of this host-pathogen interaction, molecular data such as fecal RNA could, over time, help fill those gaps in knowledge. In addition, merging this novel fecal RNA approach with more established microbiome techniques can provide a more holistic picture of an enteropathogenesis and potentially uncover control points that can be addressed through management or nutrition at the farm level to minimize preweaning morbidity and mortality.

Bacteria colonization and gene expression related to immune function in colon mucosa is associated with growth in neonatal calves regardless of live yeast supplementation

Background As Holstein calves are susceptible to gastrointestinal disorders during the first week of life,understanding how intestinal immune function develops in neonatal calves is important to promote better intestinal health.Feeding probiotics in early life may contribute to host intestinal health by facilitating beneficial bacteria colonization and developing intestinal immune function.The objective of this study was to characterize the impact of early life yeast supplementation and growth on colon mucosa-attached bacteria and host immune function.Results Twenty Holstein bull calves received no supplementation(CON)or Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii(SCB)from birth to 5 d of life.Colon tissue biopsies were taken within 2 h of life(D0)before the first colostrum feeding and 3 h after the morning feeding at d 5 of age(D5)to analyze mucosa-attached bacteria and colon transcriptome.Metagenome sequencing showed that there was no difference inαandβdiversity of mucosa-attached bacteria between day and treatment,but bacteria related to diarrhea were more abundant in the colon mucosa on D0 compared to D5.In addition,q PCR indicated that the absolute abundance of Escherichia coli(E.coli)decreased in the colon mucosa on D5 compared to D0;however,that of Bifidobacterium,Lactobacillus,and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii,which could competitively exclude E.coli,increased in the colon mucosa on D5 compared to D0.RNA-sequencing showed that there were no differentially expressed genes between CON and SCB,but suggested that pathways related to viral infection such as“Interferon Signaling”were activated in the colon mucosa of D5 compared to D0.Conclusions Growth affected mucosa-attached bacteria and host immune function in the colon mucosa during the first 5 d of life in dairy calves independently of SCB supplementation.During early life,opportunistic pathogens may decrease due to intestinal environmental changes by beneficial bacteria and/or host immune function.Predicted activation of immune function-related pathways may be the result of host immune function development or suggest other antigens in the intestine during early life.Further studies focusing on the other antigens and host immune function in the colon mucosa are required to better understand intestinal immune function development.

Tributyrin administration improves intestinal development and health in pre-weaned dairy calves fed milk replacer

Butyrate and its derivatives possess various nutritional and biological benefits for mammals,whereas its effects on dairy calves have not been well characterized.This study evaluated the effects of tributyrin administration on blood immune,intestinal immune and barrier functions,and microbial composition of pre-weaned dairy calves.Twenty newborn Holstein bull calves were randomly assigned into a control group(no tributyrin supplementation,CON;n=10)or a treatment group(supplemented with tributyrin at 2 g/L of milk,TRB;n=10).The results showed that diarrhea frequency was decreased significantly by tributyrin administration from d 29 to 56(P<0.001)and the whole period(P=0.003,d 1 to 56)though no significant effects were observed on growth performance.For blood metabolites,tributyrin administration significantly reduced the concentration of interleukin-1b(IL-1b)on d 28(P=0.001)and tended to reduce the concentration of serum amyloid A on d 56(P=0.079),whereas serum oxidative status parameters were not affected.For intestinal development,tributyrin administration increased the villus height(P<0.001)and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth(P=0.046)in the jejunum,and the villus height in the ileum(P=0.074).Furthermore,toll-like receptor 2(TRL2,P=0.045)and IL-1b(P=0.088)gene expressions were downregulated,while claudin-4(P=0.022)gene expression was upregulated in the jejunum following tributyrin administration.In the ileum,claudin-4(P=0.029)and G-protein coupled receptor 41(P=0.019)gene expressions were upregulated in the TRB group compared to CON.No significantly higher abundances of microbiota were found in the jejunum or ileum of calves in the CON group.In the TRB group,supplementing tributyrin significantly increased the abundance of shortchain fatty acid(SCFA)-producing bacteria,including Ruminococcaceae,Lachnospiraceae,Prevotella and Rikenellaceae(LDA>3.5,P<0.05),which was negatively associated with inflammatory gene expression(TLR2 and IL-1b)but positively associated with intestinal barrier genes(claudin-4)and morphological parameters(P<0.05).In conclusion,supplementing tributyrin in milk replacer could improve intestinal development and health of pre-weaned dairy calves by stimulating SCFA-producing bacteria colonization,enhancing intestinal barrier functions and suppressing inflammatory responses.

Effects of different feeding methods and space allowance on the growth performance, individual and social behaviors of Holstein calves

The importance of nutrient provisions and weaning methods for calves has been well established over the past few years,while as increasing interest has focused on contribution of animal behavior and their overall performance in production regimes.The present study investigated the effects of feeding methods and space allowance on growth performance,individual and social behaviors in Holstein calves.Twenty-four Chinese Holstein male and female calves were allocated to either an individual or group of 6 and fed either with a bucket or a teat.Milk replacer,calf starter,and Chinese wildrye were offered during the experiment.A fecal index used in the present study was defined as the total fecal scores/total number of calves in each treatment.The results showed that there was no significant difference among the 4 treatments in terms of feed intake,body weight,average daily gain,and fecal index.For the feeding behaviors,the ingesting milk time and ingesting milk rate were significantly affected by space allowance,while the feeding methods showed a significant influence on the bunting behavior of the calves.There was no significant difference among the 4 treatments in terms of licking fixtures,self-grooming,and lying down behaviors,irrespective of the feeding method or space allowance.However,sucking an empty bucket or the teat was significantly affected by the feeding method.Several selected group behaviors were examined in the present study,and similar values for sniffing the other calves,social grooming,and cross-sucking behaviors were observed.Overall,the present study demonstrated that different feeding methods and space allowances had a significant effect on the feeding behavior of calves,while the feed intake,growth performance,health condition,individual and group social behaviors were not significantly influenced.Furthermore,under intensified production systems,Holstein calves raised in a group may obtain a similar production performance,thus reducing management input and profitability compared with those kept individually.However,there may be competition during the feeding period.

Phenotypic and molecular characterizations of multidrug-resistant diarrheagenic E.coli of calf origin

Escherichia coli has become one of the most important causes of calf diarrhea.The aim of this study is to determine the patterns of antimicrobial resistance of E.coli isolates from six cattle farms and to identify prominent resistance genes and virulence genes among the strains isolated from the diarrhea of calves.Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed using the disk diffusion method,and PCR was used to detect resistance and virulence genes.The prevalence of multidrug resistant(MDR)E.coli was 77.8%in dairy cattle and 63.6%in beef cattle.There were high resistance rates to penicillin(100%,100%)and ampicillin(96.3%,86.4%)in E.coli from dairy cattle and beef cattle.Interestingly,resistance rate to antimicrobials and distribution of resistance genes in£coli isolated from dairy cattle were higher than those in beef cattle.Further analysis showed that the most prevalent resistance genes were blojm and oodAl in dairy cattle and beef cattle,respectively.Moreover,seven diarrheagenic virulence genes(irp2,fyuA,Stx1,eoeA,F41,K99 and STa)were present in the isolates from dairy cattle,with a prevalence ranging from 3.7%to 22.22%.Six diarrheagenic virulence genes(irp2,fyuA,Stx1,eoeA,hylA and F41)were identified in the isolates from beef cattle,with a prevalence ranging from 2.27%to 63.64%.Our results provide important evidence for better exploring their interaction mechanism.Further studies are also needed to understand the origin and transmission route of£coli in cattle to reduce its prevalence.