Effect of antibiotic therapy of genital mycoplasmosis in pregnant cows on cytological and immunological characteristics of vaginal secretions

Abstract

Purpose: the aim is to study the therapeutic efficacy of the macrolide group antibiotic tulatromycin and its effect on the immunological and cytological characteristics of vaginal secretions.Materials and methods. For the experiment, 2 groups of 8 animals each were formed. The first group - cows without clinical signs of vaginitis with a positive PCR test for Mycoplasma spp.; the second group - clinically healthy cows with a negative PCR test for Mycoplasma spp. The first group of cows, the group for the treatment of genital mycoplasmosis, used the antibiotic traksovet 100 (tulatromycin) at a dose of 2.5 mg per 1 kg of animal body weight, subcutaneously, once 40 days before the expected delivery. Vaginal secretions were collected from both groups of cows, in which the content of Ig G, Ig M, Ig A, sIg A, lysozyme activity and cytological examination of the vaginal smear were determined.Results. The use of tulatromycin in cows with genital mycoplasmosis leads to a decrease in the content of Ig M and sIg A in vaginal secretions, which reach the values of these indicators in healthy animals. A less pronounced positive effect is observed with respect to the activity of the vaginal secretion lysozyme, which, although significantly increased, remains lower than in healthy cows. Cytological examination of vaginal smears against the background of antibiotic therapy showed a significant decrease in the number of epithelium and leukocytes.Conclusion. The use of traksovet 100 antibiotic as etiotropic therapy for cows with genital mycoplasmosis leads to the elimination of the pathogen from the vaginal mucosa in 75 % of sick animals and provides partial restoration of cytological and immunological characteristics of vaginal secretions.