Serum interleukin-6 as a prognostic marker in neonatal calf diarrhea
2016 | journal article. A publication with affiliation to the University of Göttingen.
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- Authors
- Fischer, Stephani; Bauerfeind, Rolf; Czerny, Claus-Peter; Neumann, Stephan
- Abstract
- Neonatal calf diarrhea is still one of the most important diseases in calf rearing, and severe diarrhea has a marked effect on animal welfare. Furthermore, significant economic losses can result from this disease due to high mortality rates, high medical costs, and low weight gain. To avoid a fatal outcome of the disease, it is crucial that vulnerable calves are identified as early as possible. Interleukin-6 is described as an early and reliable prognostic marker in several diseases. In this study, 20 scouring calves were tested by ELISA for their IL-6 serum concentrations. Samples were collected twice, at the beginning of diarrhea and 7 to 10 d later. Regarding the clinical outcome after 7 to 10 d, calves were classified as recovered or nonrecovered. A receiver operating characteristic analysis was conducted to determine the prognostic value of IL-6 for the progress of clinical symptoms. At the beginning of diarrhea, the IL-6 concentration was significantly higher in nonrecovering calves compared with those that recover 7 to 10 d after the onset of diarrhea. Interleukin-6 proved to be a useful additional parameter in the clinical examination. High initial IL-6 values can support the decision for closer monitoring and an adapted therapeutic strategy for the respective calves. This may help to prevent unnecessary animal suffering and reduce economic losses.
- Issue Date
- 2016
- Status
- published
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science Inc
- Journal
- Journal of Dairy Science
- ISSN
- 1525-3198; 0022-0302
- Sponsor
- Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (Hannover, Germany)