Journal Article

Effect of in-vitro heat stress challenge on the function of blood mononuclear cells from dairy cattle ranked as high, average and low immune responders

Cartwright, Shannon L., Mallard, Bonnie A., Schmied, Julie, McKechnie, Marnie, Livernois, Alexandra M.

2021

Overview

Background The warming climate is causing livestock to experience heat stress at an increasing frequency. Holstein cows are particularly susceptible to heat stress because of their high metabolic rate. Heat stress negatively affects immune function, particularly with respect to the cell-mediated immune response, which leads to increased susceptibility to disease. Cattle identified as having enhanced immune response have lower incidence of disease. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of in vitro heat challenge on blood mononuclear cells from dairy cattle, that had previously been ranked for immune response, in terms of heat shock protein 70 concentration, nitric oxide production, and cell proliferation. Results Blood mononuclear cells from dairy cattle classified as high immune responders, based on their estimated breeding values for antibody and cell-mediated responses, produced a significantly greater concentration of heat shock protein 70 under most heat stress treatments compared to average and low responders, and greater cell-proliferation across all treatments. Similarly, a trend was observed where high responders displayed greater nitric oxide production compared to average and low responders across heat treatments. Conclusion Overall, these results suggest that blood mononuclear cells from high immune responder dairy cows are more thermotolerant compared to average and low immune responders.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Antibodies / Blood / Cell proliferation / cell-mediated immunity / climate / Climate change / Clinical pathology / Dairy cattle / Diagnosis / disease incidence / disease susceptibility / Genotype & phenotype / Global warming / Greenhouse gases / Heat / Heat shock protein 70 concentration / Heat shock proteins / Heat stress / Heat stress disorders / heat tolerance / Heat treatments / heat-shock protein 70 / Holstein / Hsp70 protein / Immune response / Immune response (cell-mediated) / Immune system / Leukocytes (mononuclear) / Livestock / Medical examination / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Metabolic rate / Metabolism / Nitric oxide / Nitric oxide production / Pathogens / Physiological aspects / physiology and immunology / Research Article / Transgenics / Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science / Zoology