Relationships between immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G or A in colostrum of Japanese black multiparous cows.

This study was conducted to clarify the relationships among immunoglobulin (Ig)M, IgG, IgA, ß-carotene, vitamin A and α-tocopherol contents in colostrum of 24 Japanese Black multiparous cows in order to evaluate the role of IgM on colostral IgG and IgA production. Compared with colostral IgG, colostral IgM and IgA were very low but varied widely. There was positive correlation between colostral IgM and IgG, but colostral IgM was not related with colostral IgA. There was no relationship between colostral IgM and age of cows, although colostral IgG was increased with aging. There were positive correlations among colostral ß-carotene, vitamin A and α-tocopherol and these vitamins were positively correlated with colostral IgM and IgG. These results indicate that fat-soluble vitamins may affect colostral IgG and IgM in cows and colostral IgG increases with the increase of colostral IgM.

Relationships between immunoglobulin and fat-soluble vitamins in colostrum of Japanese Black multiparous cows.

Data from 19 Japanese Black multiparous cows were collected to clarify the relationships among immunoglobulin (Ig) G, IgA, ß-carotene, vitamin A and α-tocopherol contents in colostrum of cows in order to evaluate the role of fat-soluble vitamins on colostral IgG and IgA production. Mean colostral IgG was 141 mg/mL, ranging from 65 to 208 mg/mL, whereas mean colostral IgA was 8.7 mg/mL, ranging from 1.0 to 34.6 mg/mL. Colostral IgG increased with aging in multiparous cows. There were positive correlations between colostral IgG and colostral vitamin A or colostral α-tocopherol in cows, and the higher adjusted R(2) was obtained in the prediction model of colostral IgG from age and colostral vitamin A. Colostral vitamin A was positively correlated with colostral ß-carotene or colostral α-tocopherol in cows, but there were no relationships between colostral IgA and colostral IgG or colostral fat-soluble vitamins. These results indicate that fat-soluble vitamin contents in colostrum of cows may change in similar patterns and high colostral vitamin A is related with high colostral IgG.