Supplementation of Diets With Bovine Colostrum Influences Immune and Gut Function in Kittens.

Asa M Gore,Robyn Engler,Jeff Labuda,Peichuan Sun,Ebenezer Satyaraj,Wendell Kerr,Lisa Conboy-Schmidt

doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.675712

Abstract

In its early life a kitten faces many significant events including separation from its mother, re-homing and vaccination. The kitten is also slowly adapting to their post-weaning diet. Recent advances in companion animal nutrition have indicated that functional ingredients such as colostrum can help support the immune system and gastrointestinal health. Here we report for the first time the effect of feeding a diet containing 0.1% spray dried bovine colostrum (BC) to growing kittens on gut-associated lymphoid (GALT) tissue responses, systemic immune responses, and on intestinal microbiota stability. BC supplementation induced increased faecal IgA expression, and a faster and stronger antibody response to a rabies vaccine booster, indicative of better localised and systemic immune function, respectively. BC supplementation also helped to maintain kittens' intestinal microbiota stability in the face of a mildly challenging life event. These results show that BC supplementation can help strengthen the immune system and enhance the gut microbiota stability of growing kittens.

Highlights

Kittens encounter many new and challenging experiences during their first year of life
At the end of the 4-week pre-test period, baseline measurements were taken, and kittens were blocked into diet groups based on Abbreviations: BC, bovine colostrum; EGF, epidermal growth factor; GALT, gutassociated lymphoid tissue; GI, Gastrointestinal; IGF-1 and 2, insulin-like growth factor-1 and 2; PDGF, platelet-derived growth factor; TGF-β, transforming growth factor-β; Temperature Gel Electrophoresis (TTGE), temporal temperature gel electrophoresis
There was no significant difference between control and the BC supplemented diet on all blood chemistry parameters measured

Summary

Introduction

Kittens encounter many new and challenging experiences during their first year of life (weaning, vaccination, re-homing etc.). These challenges may adversely affect their health. Given the number of new experiences faced by a young kitten and the immature nature of the kitten’s immune system, it is not surprising that the post-weaning period is associated with increased risk of infection [1] and GI upset [2]. The GI tract has protective functions that help to prevent the invasion of pathogens and neutralize toxins. There have been limited in vivo studies regarding the kitten neonate GI tract and immune functionality. The maturation of the gut immune system after birth is highly influenced by the presence of bioactive components present in the mother’s colostrum and milk [5], and modulated by the introduction of solid food [3]

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