Effect of Feeding Bovamine® Probiotic on Passive Transfer of Immunoglobulin G in Newborn Calves

Abstract

Early studies have suggested that bacteria in colostrum may interfere with passive absorption of immunoglobulins (lg) in newborn calves (James et al, 1981), and recent studies reported that calves fed pasteurized colostrum had improved passive transfer of IgG versus calves fed fresh colostrum (Johnson et al, 2007; Heinrichs et al, 2009a). However, a recent study reported that colostrum bacteria counts were not associated with IgG absorption (Heinrichs et al, 2009b). Do pathogenic or non-pathogenic bacteria, living or dead, truly interfere with lg absorption? Bovamine® (Nutrition Physiology Company, LLC, Overland Park, KS) is a direct-fed microbial (DFM or probiotic) containing a patented combination of living Lactobacillus acidophilus ( 1 x 109 cfu/1 g dose) and Propionibacterium freudenreichii (2 x 109 cfu/1 g dose). The study objective was to describe the effect of supplementing colostrum with living or dead DFM on serum total protein (STP) and IgG levels, and apparent efficiency of absorption of IgG (AEA %).