Maternal immunity plays a pivotal role in swine health and production because piglets are born agammaglobulinemic and with limited cell-mediated immunity, i.e. few peripheral lymphoid cells, immature lymphoid tissues, and no effector and memory T-lymphocytes. Swine do not become fully immunologically competent until about 4 weeks of age, which means that their compromised ability to respond to infectious agents during the first month of life must be supplemented by maternal immune components: (1) circulating antibodies derived from colostrum; (2) mucosal antibodies from colostrum and milk; and (3) immune cells provided in mammary secretions. Because maternal immunity is highly effective at protecting piglets against specific pathogens, strengthening sow herd immunity against certain diseases through exposure or vaccination is a useful management tool for ameliorating clinical effects in piglets and delaying infection until the piglets’ immune system is better prepared to respond. In this review, we discuss the anatomy and physiology of lactation, the immune functions of components provided to neonatal swine in mammary secretion, the importance of maternal immunity in the prevention and control of significant pathogens.

中文翻译：

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猪母体免疫的历史和当代方面

母体免疫在猪的健康和生产中发挥着关键作用，因为仔猪出生时无丙种球蛋白血症，细胞介导的免疫有限，即外周淋巴细胞很少，淋巴组织不成熟，没有效应和记忆 T 淋巴细胞。猪直到大约 4 周龄才能完全具备免疫能力，这意味着它们在生命的第一个月内对感染因子的反应能力受损必须由母体免疫成分来补充：（1）来自初乳的循环抗体；(2) 初乳和乳汁的黏膜抗体；(3) 乳腺分泌物中提供的免疫细胞。因为母体免疫力在保护仔猪免受特定病原体侵害方面非常有效，通过暴露或接种疫苗来增强母猪群对某些疾病的免疫力是一种有用的管理工具，可以改善仔猪的临床效果并延迟感染，直到仔猪的免疫系统做好更好的反应准备。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了泌乳的解剖学和生理学，提供给新生猪的乳腺分泌物的免疫功能，母体免疫在预防和控制重要病原体中的重要性。