Journal Article

Tumor necrosis factor-α production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells after in vitro Escherichia coli challenge in early- vs. mid-lactation dairy cows

Barca, Joaquín, Bentancor, Mauricio, Brun, Victoria de, Meikle, Ana, Schukken, Ynte, Souza, Fernando Nogueira de

2026

Overview

In this research communications, we characterized the in vitro production curve of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) challenged with Escherichia coli obtained from multiparous dairy cows in early lactation (EL, 14 ± 4 days in milk) vs. mid-lactation (ML, 123 ± 31 days in milk). We also investigated the impact of the type of serum (autologous vs. bovine fetal) used in cell culture on the TNF-α response. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from EL (n = 7) and ML (n = 9) dairy cows. When PBMC were cocultured in autologous serum and challenged with E. coli, the supernatant TNF-α concentration was higher in the EL group than in the ML group (least-squares means [LSM], was 0.29 ± 0.1 vs. 0.24 ± 0.1 ng/mL, P = 0.004). In contrast, when PBMC were cocultured with bovine fetal serum, the lactation stage was not associated with the supernatant TNF-α concentration (P = 0.63). Our findings indicate that both the lactation stage and the serum environment used in cocultures are associated with TNF-α production in PBMC.

• Publisher: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria
• Subject: AGRONOMY / inflammation / mastitis / mobilization / TNF-α / transition period