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. 2021 Jul 1;17(1):233.
doi: 10.1186/s12917-021-02940-8.

Effect of in-vitro heat stress challenge on the function of blood mononuclear cells from dairy cattle ranked as high, average and low immune responders

Shannon L Cartwright  1 , Marnie McKechnie  2 , Julie Schmied  2 , Alexandra M Livernois  2   3 , Bonnie A Mallard  2   3
Affiliations

Effect of in-vitro heat stress challenge on the function of blood mononuclear cells from dairy cattle ranked as high, average and low immune responders

Shannon L Cartwright et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: The warming climate is causing livestock to experience heat stress at an increasing frequency. Holstein cows are particularly susceptible to heat stress because of their high metabolic rate. Heat stress negatively affects immune function, particularly with respect to the cell-mediated immune response, which leads to increased susceptibility to disease. Cattle identified as having enhanced immune response have lower incidence of disease. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of in vitro heat challenge on blood mononuclear cells from dairy cattle, that had previously been ranked for immune response, in terms of heat shock protein 70 concentration, nitric oxide production, and cell proliferation.

Results: Blood mononuclear cells from dairy cattle classified as high immune responders, based on their estimated breeding values for antibody and cell-mediated responses, produced a significantly greater concentration of heat shock protein 70 under most heat stress treatments compared to average and low responders, and greater cell-proliferation across all treatments. Similarly, a trend was observed where high responders displayed greater nitric oxide production compared to average and low responders across heat treatments.

Conclusion: Overall, these results suggest that blood mononuclear cells from high immune responder dairy cows are more thermotolerant compared to average and low immune responders.

Keywords: Cell proliferation; Dairy cattle; Heat shock protein 70 concentration; Heat stress; Immune response; Nitric oxide production.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The concentration of heat shock protein 70, by heat treatment, for high, average and low immune responders. Cells were subjected to various heat treatments and HSP70 concentration was measured by ELISA. The data presented are least squared means + standard error of the mean. High immune responders are represented by the black bars, average immune responders by the grey bars and low immune responders by the white bars. P-values for significant effects or trends, between immune response phenotypes within each treatment, are presented in the figure. If a p-value is not present it indicates the effect is not significant. P-values for significant effects or trends, across treaments for each immune response phenotype, are presented in the results section
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The production of nitric oxide, by heat treatment for high, average and low immune responders. Cells were subjected to various heat treatments and nitric oxide production was measured by Griess assay. The data presented are least squared means + standard error of the mean. High immune responders are represented by the black bars, average immune responders by the grey bars and low immune responders by the white bars. P-values for significant effects or trends are presented in the figure. If a p-value is not present it indicates the effect is not significant
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The cell proliferation, by heat treatment, for high, average and low immune responders. Cells were subjected to various heat treatments and cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay. The data presented are least squared means + standard error of the mean. High immune responders are represented by the black bars, average immune responders by the grey bars and low immune responders by the white bars. P-values for significant effects or trends are presented in the figure. If a p-value is not present it indicates the effect is not significant
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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