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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2007

Morphometric analysis of proinflammatory cytokines in mammary glands of sows suggests an association between clinical mastitis and local production of IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha

Zhu YH, Fossum C, Berg M, Magnussona U

Abstract

Twelve healthy primiparous sows received intramammary inoculation with Escherichia coli (serotype O127) during the 24-h period preceding parturition. Mammary gland biopsy samples were taken immediately before inoculation (0 h) and from the inoculated and the contralateral non-inoculated glands 24 h after inoculation. The analyses of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) by immunohistochemistry revealed that the production of these proinflammatory cytokines significantly increased in the inoculated mammary glands of sows that developed clinical signs of mastitis (affected group, n = 4) 24 h after inoculation. This was also true for IL-8 in the inoculated mammary glands of sows that did not develop clinical signs of mastitis (nonaffected group, n = 8). Sows that developed clinical signs of mastitis displayed significantly lower constitutive production of IL-1 beta than did sows that remained clinically healthy. The data indicate that the development of clinical symptoms of coliform mastitis in the sow is associated with a locally increased proinflammatory cytokine production in response to intramammary E. coli infection

Published in

Veterinary Research
2007, Volume: 38, number: 6, pages: 871-882
Publisher: EDP SCIENCES S A