1Department
of Internal Medicine and Institute of Health Science, Gyeongsang
National University Hospital, Jinju 52727, Republic of Korea; 2College
of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju
52828, Republic of Korea; 3National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development
Administration, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea 4College
of Veterinary Medicine, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54596,
Republic of Korea; 5Laboratory of Veterinary Internal
Medicine, BK21 PLUS Program for Creative Veterinary Science
Research, Research Institute for Veterinary Science and College of
Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea 6College
of Ecology and Environmental Science, Kyungpook National University,Sangju
37224, Republic of Korea 7College
of Veterinary Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon
24341, Republic of Korea 8College
of Veterinary Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea *Corresponding author: jpark@jbnu.ac.kr
Abstract
Calf diarrhea is a major cause of economic loss
in the cattle industry. Identifying biomarkers associated with the pathological
conditions may provide beneficial guidelines for detecting disease progression
and monitoring effectiveness of therapeutic agents in calves suffering from
diarrhea. The objective of this research was to find out biological factors
associated with calf diarrhea, based on clinical findings and the presence of
enteric pathogens. Fecal and blood samples were obtained from 73 non-diarrheal
and 42 diarrheal calves. The presence of enteric pathogens, hemato-chemical
parameters, acute phase proteins, and pro-inflammatory cytokines were
investigated in the samples. According to the presence of diarrhea and
pathogens, the calves were classified into healthy (n=35), subclinical
(non-diarrheal but pathogen-positive, n=36), infectious diarrheal (diarrheal and
pathogen-positive, n=39), and unknown diarrheal groups (diarrheal but
pathogen-negative, n=3). The presence of bovine coronavirus, bovine rotavirus
group A, and Cryptosporidium spp. were
significantly associated with the development of calf diarrhea (P<0.05). The
infectious diarrheal group showed increases in monocyte percentages and blood
urea nitrogen level and the decreases in glucose, potassium, and phosphorus
levels (P<0.05). Moreover,
inflammatory proteins such as haptoglobin, fibrinogen, interleukin-6, and tumor
necrosis factor-alpha were elevated in the infectious diarrheal group compared
to the healthy group (P<0.05).
The current study identified altered blood biological factors in calves with
infectious diarrhea. The results suggested that these factors may be useful
targets for monitoring animal health in calf diarrheal disease, especially
infectious diarrhea.
To Cite This Article:
Kim S, Yu DH, Jung S, Kang J, Park K, Chae JB,
Choi KS,Kim HC, Park BK, ChaeJS and Park J, 2021.
Biological factors associated with infectious diarrhea in calves. Pak Vet J,
41(4): 531-537.
http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2021.078