Abstract
The aim of the present study was to analyze the humoral-immune response of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) naturally infected against Anaplasma marginale. For this work, colostrums/milk and blood samples were sequentially collected from buffalo cows prior and after partum for a period of 335 days and from buffalo calves from birth to 365 days after. The antibodies in the colostrums/milk and serum samples of these animals were determined using an ELISA indirect method and the data were analyzed as a mean of a group of animals with the matched ages during the period of 1999/2000 or individually during the year of 2005. The data from animals analyzed in group showed that the antibodies against A. marginale were in low concentration (below the cut off point: D.O. = 0.265 and ELISA levels, EL < or =3), in the sera of buffalo, during the first 90 and 105 days, respectively for cows and calves. Then, the levels of antibodies in the serum samples of buffalo calves, slightly raised to above the cut-off point and kept in higher levels up to approximately 365 days after birth, indicating active acquired immunity. Furthermore, when the animals were individually examined, the buffalo cows showed high antibody levels in the colostrums, but low levels in the blood stream during the first seven days post-partum, suggesting antibody transference from blood to mammary gland. In addition to that, buffalo calves showed high antibody levels during the first 24 hours after suckling colostrum, indicating a colostral passive immunity. By conclusion, the buffaloes were able to arm a humoral immune response against A. marginale and were considered reservoir of this parasite.
Highlights
O objetivo do presente estudo foi analisar a resposta imune humoral anti-Anaplasma marginale em búfalos (Bubalus bubalis) naturalmente infectados
milk and blood samples were sequentially collected from buffalo cows
the data were analyzed as a mean of a group
Summary
Animais e manejo Os trabalhos de campo relacionados a este estudo foram executados na Fazenda Experimental de Ensino e Pesquisa da Universidade Estadual Paulista “Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), situada à margem direita do Rio Paraná, no município de Selvíria, Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul, no período de janeiro de 1999 a março de 2000 e durante o ano de 2005. Amostras de sangue e colostro/leite foram coletadas sequencialmente por um período aproximado de um ano. As amostras de colostro/leite das búfalas foram coletadas, através de ordenha manual no dia do parto e semanalmente por um período de 60 dias, sempre no mesmo dia das coletas de sangue. No ano de 2005, decidiu-se por complementar o estudo analisando-se quatro animais individualmente e, para isso colheu-se seqüencialmente amostras de sangue e colostro de duas búfalas e seus respectivos bezerros, mas durante um período de aproximadamente cinco meses com intervalos de uma a duas semanas, a partir do parto e/ou do nascimento. Para detecção da resposta imune humoral dos animais naturalmente infectados por A. marginale, amostras de soro sangüíneo e colostro/leite foram submetidas ao ELISA-indireto segundo Machado et al (1997) para B. bovis, adaptado para A. marginale.
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