[Resoprtion of colostric immunoglobulins and serum bactericidal activity of lambs during ontogeny]

Abstract

Studied were the resorption dynamics of colostrum IgG and IgM immunoglobulins in lambs of ewes vaccinated and unvaccinated against Escherichia coli and the bactericidal activity of their serum depending on the time after the first sucking as well as the resorption and the bactericidal activity as influenced by the first sucking itself. The experiment was carried out on 70 lambs of vaccinated ewes and 30 lambs of unvaccinated ewes. The period of investigation covered the time from the first to the 20th day after the first sucking, studying also the agglutinin titer, the phagocyte number and phagocyte index of the leukocytes with regard to the vaccinal strain O7 of E. coli. The specificity of IgG and IgM was studied through immunoelectrophoresis. It was found that the bactericidal activity of the blood in newborn lambs was dependent on the amount of the immunoglobulins resorbed and their specificity. A delay of 10--24 hours of the first sucking led to a drop of both immunoglobulins and bactericidal activity by about 48--65 and 20--45 per cent, respectively.