Dairy herd health, impedance on six acupuncture points and immune response factors in milk: A pilot study

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate whether immunological parameters in milk and the impedance at 6 acupuncture points (APs) were related to herd health: good versus poor. The study used a purposively selected sample of 10 herds and in each herd 15 to 18 animals were observed. Statistical models at animal level included a random herd effect, with age and days in milk as covariates. The capacity for immune response was estimated through in vitro proliferation counts in medium, LPS, and ConA. At the right and left bladder meridians we measured impedance at 3 APs related to disease resistance. The energy balance at the onset of lactation and other parameters confirmed the classification in good and poor health herds. The immunological parameters in milk were not significantly related to health status, but LPS values of two herds with the apparent poorest health were consistently lower. The good health herds showed significantly lower impedance at all APs. Impedance values at APs correlated negatively with counts of LPS, indicating that good health animals had consistently higher counts of macrophages, i.e. better innate disease resistance. To confirm prospects of the parameters, we recommend repeating the study with a larger randomly selected sample.