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. 2018 Apr 19;14(1):135.
doi: 10.1186/s12917-018-1463-7.

Inflammatory mechanism of Rumenitis in dairy cows with subacute ruminal acidosis

Chenxu Zhao  1 , Guowen Liu  1 , Xiaobing Li  1 , Yuan Guan  2 , Yazhou Wang  1 , Xue Yuan  3 , Guoquan Sun  3 , Zhe Wang  1 , Xinwei Li  4
Affiliations

Inflammatory mechanism of Rumenitis in dairy cows with subacute ruminal acidosis

Chenxu Zhao et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) is a metabolic disease in high-producing dairy cattle, and is accompanied by rumenitis. However, the mechanism of rumenitis remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanism of rumenitis in dairy cows with SARA.

Results: The results showed that SARA cows displayed high concentrations of ruminal volatile fatty acids, lactic acid and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Furthermore, the blood concentrations of LPS and acute phase proteins haptoglobin, serum amyloid-A, and LPS binding protein were significantly higher in SARA cows than in control cows. Importantly, the phosphorylation levels of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) p65, inhibitor of NF-κB (IκB), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) were significantly higher in the rumen epithelium of SARA cows than those of control cows. The ruminal mRNA and protein levels of NF-κB- and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)s -regulated inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β), were markedly higher in SARA cows than in control cows. Similarly, serum concentrations of TNF-α and IL-6 were also significantly higher in SARA cows.

Conclusions: These results indicate that SARA results in high concentration of ruminal LPS, which over activates the NF-κB and MAPKs inflammatory pathways and then significantly increases the expression and synthesis of pro-inflammation cytokines in the rumen epithelium, thereby partly inducing rumenitis.

Keywords: Inflammatory pathway; LPS; Rumenitis; Subacute ruminal acidosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The farm owner and our research team made an agreement in a written way. The ethical review committee approved this agreement. Furthermore, the study was approved by the farm owner and all experimental animals were conducted according to the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research. The protocol was approved by the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of the Jilin University.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The blood levels of LBP, Hp, and SAA in the control and SARA cows. Five cows were in each group. a The plasma level of LBP; b The serum level of Hp; c The plasma level of SAA. The data presented are the mean ± SD. * P < 0.05 and ** P < 0.01 versus the control group
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The phosphorylation levels of NF-κB and MAPKs in the ruminal epithelium of control and SARA cows. Five cows were in each group. a The western blotting results of p-IκBα, IκBα, p-NF-κB p65, NF-κB p65, p-p38MAPK, p38MAPK, p-ERK, ERK, p-JNK, JNK, and β-actin; B: The phosphorylation levels of IκBα, NF-κB p65, p38MAPK, ERK1/2 and JNK. The data presented are the mean ± SD. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 versus the control group
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The mRNA expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in the ruminal epithelium of control and SARA cows. Five cows were in each group. a The mRNA expression levels of TNF-α; b The mRNA expression levels of IL-6; (C) The mRNA expression levels of IL-1β. The data presented are the mean ± SD. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 versus the control group
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The protein expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in the ruminal epithelium of control and SARA cows. Five cows were in each group. a The western blotting results of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β; b The protein expression levels of TNF-α; c The protein expression levels of IL-6; d The protein expression levels of IL-1β. The data presented are the mean ± SD. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 versus the control group
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The blood concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in the control and SARA cows. Five cows were in each group. aThe blood concentration of TNF-α; b The blood concentration of IL-6; c The blood concentration of IL-1β. The data presented are the mean ± SD. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 versus the control group
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