Passive transfer of colostral immunoglobulins from the cow to the calf is essential for calf health. The objective of this study was to determine if prepartum administration of a vaccine stimulates increased concentrations of colostral immunoglobulins of dairy cows beyond what is explained by vaccine-specific immunoglobulins. A prospective cohort study was conducted on a spring-calving commercial dairy farm that had a policy of only vaccinating cows with even ear tag numbers with a calf diarrhea vaccine, while cows with odd ear tag numbers were left unvaccinated. Cows in the vaccinated group (even ear tag numbers, n=204) received a sensitizer and booster vaccination with a vaccine against bovine rotavirus (serotypes G6 and G10), bovine coronavirus and E. coli having the K99 pili adherence factor. A sensitizer was given because the study vaccine was different to the vaccine previously used. Cows in the control group (odd ear tag numbers, n=194) received a 2 mL subcutaneous sterile saline solution. Both groups received two treatments at a three-week interval, completing the treatments approximately two weeks prior to the planned start of calving. During the calving period, technicians separated calves from cows immediately after parturition and prior to suckling, and cows were completely milked out within six hours of parturition. Vaccine-specific, total, and nonvaccine-specific (total minus vaccine-specific) concentrations of immunoglobulin classes A, G1, G2a and M (IgA, IgG1, IgG2a and IgM respectively) were quantified by mass spectrometry for 20 colostrum samples from each treatment group. Predicted mean non-vaccine-specific colostral IgM concentrations were 8.76 (95% CI =7.18-10.67) and 5.78 (95% CI =4.74-7.05) mg/ml for vaccinated and control cows respectively (p =0.005). Predicted mean non-vaccine-specific colostral IgG1 concentrations were 106.08 (95% CI =92.07-120.08) and 95.30 (95% CI =81.30-109.31) mg/ml among vaccinated and control cows respectively, however these means were not significantly different (p=0.278). It is thus possible that the vaccine, in addition to specifically managing infectious calf diarrhea, may also have non-specific benefits by improving colostrum quality through increased non-vaccine-specific colostrum IgM concentrations. Further research is necessary to determine the mechanism for these preliminary findings, whether the effect may occur in other immunoglobulin classes, and what impacts it may have on calf health outcomes.

中文翻译：

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产前接种小牛传染性腹泻疫苗对奶牛非特异性初乳免疫球蛋白浓度的影响

将初乳免疫球蛋白从奶牛被动转移到小牛对小牛健康至关重要。本研究的目的是确定产前接种疫苗是否会刺激奶牛的初乳免疫球蛋白浓度增加，超出疫苗特异性免疫球蛋白的解释范围。一项前瞻性队列研究在一个春季产犊的商业奶牛场进行，该奶牛场的政策是只给耳标号为偶数的奶牛接种小牛腹泻疫苗，而耳标号为奇数的奶牛则不接种。接种组中的奶牛（偶数耳标，n=204）接受了针对牛轮状病毒（血清型 G6 和 G10）、牛冠状病毒和具有 K99 菌毛粘附因子的大肠杆菌的疫苗的致敏剂和加强剂疫苗接种。给予敏化剂是因为研究疫苗与之前使用的疫苗不同。对照组中的奶牛（奇数耳标，n=194）接受 2 mL 皮下无菌生理盐水。两组均以三周为间隔接受两次治疗，在计划的产犊开始前大约两周完成治疗。在产犊期间，技术人员在分娩后和哺乳前立即将小牛与奶牛分开，奶牛在分娩后 6 小时内完全挤完奶。免疫球蛋白 A、G1、G2a 和 M 类（分别为 IgA、IgG1、IgG2a 和 IgM）的疫苗特异性、总和非疫苗特异性（总量减去疫苗特异性）浓度通过质谱法对每次处理的 20 个初乳样品进行定量团体。接种奶牛和对照奶牛的预测平均非疫苗特异性初乳 IgM 浓度分别为 8.76 (95% CI =7.18-10.67) 和 5.78 (95% CI =4.74-7.05) mg/ml (p =0.005)。预测的平均非疫苗特异性初乳 IgG1 浓度分别为 106.08 (95% CI =92.07-120.08) 和 95.30 (95% CI =81.30-109.31) mg/ml，在接种奶牛和对照奶牛中，但是这些平均值没有显着差异（ p=0.278）。因此，除了专门控制感染性小牛腹泻外，该疫苗还可能通过增加非疫苗特异性初乳 IgM 浓度来改善初乳质量，从而具有非特异性益处。需要进一步研究以确定这些初步发现的机制，这种影响是否可能发生在其他免疫球蛋白类别中，