Relationship between serum diamine oxidase activity and severity of diarrhea in calves

Abstract

Diarrhea remains the leading cause of mortality in dairy calves, and a common cause of morbidity and mortality in beef calves. Calf diarrhea is problematic because it reduces productivity at the production site. In the healthy state, the intestinal villi absorb water and glucose, but when the intestinal epithelium is impaired by Escherichia coli or Cryptosporidium parvum, diarrhea develops, and damage to intestinal villi reduces productivity. Therefore, it is important to recover intestinal villi during treatment of diarrhea. Diamine oxidase (DAO) is produced by mucosal epithelial cells in the small intestine, especially by villi, and is involved in the control of cell proliferation. The DAO activity value in the blood reflects the state of the villi in the small intestine. Therefore, in recent years, numerous clinical studies have examined the state of intestinal villi. The objective of this study was to investigate whether DAO is an indicator of disorders of intestinal mucosa in calves with diarrhea.