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Review
. 2021 Jun 29:12:643206.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.643206. eCollection 2021.

Bovine Immunology: Implications for Dairy Cattle

Anastasia N Vlasova  1 , Linda J Saif  1
Affiliations
Review

Bovine Immunology: Implications for Dairy Cattle

Anastasia N Vlasova et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

The growing world population (7.8 billion) exerts an increased pressure on the cattle industry amongst others. Intensification and expansion of milk and beef production inevitably leads to increased risk of infectious disease spread and exacerbation. This indicates that improved understanding of cattle immune function is needed to provide optimal tools to combat the existing and future pathogens and improve food security. While dairy and beef cattle production is easily the world's most important agricultural industry, there are few current comprehensive reviews of bovine immunobiology. High-yielding dairy cattle and their calves are more vulnerable to various diseases leading to shorter life expectancy and reduced environmental fitness. In this manuscript, we seek to fill this paucity of knowledge and provide an up-to-date overview of immune function in cattle emphasizing the unresolved challenges and most urgent needs in rearing dairy calves. We will also discuss how the combination of available preventative and treatment strategies and herd management practices can maintain optimal health in dairy cows during the transition (periparturient) period and in neonatal calves.

Keywords: bovine; cattle; dairy cows; immune responses; infectious diseases; neonatal calves.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Immune modulation during pregnancy. Early conceptus signaling modulates local and systemic immunity. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), platelets and cell-free DNA from bone marrow/thymus modulated by high level of P4 from corpus luteum enter blood circulation. Then, the PBMC, platelets and cell-free DNA while migrating through blood circulation to endometria, are controlled by IFNT and other conceptus immune factors. Then the functionally changed PBMC, platelets and cell-free DNA re-enter blood/lymph circulation and traffic to effector cells affecting the function of the immune organs and non-immune organs including ovary. This early signaling shifts immune environment to Th2 to maintain the pregnancy. Inflammatory responses sharply increase, and cellular immune function is down-regulated around parturition.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Immune cells of the mammary gland (MG), their functions and cytokines produced.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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