The intensive management system of both beef and dairy cattle, along with the improvement of genetic selection and high nutritional requirements, leads to metabolic disorders as well as several inflammatory diseases. It is well known that the bovine immune response is strongly affected by metabolic dysfunctions such as acidosis and/or ketosis. Subclinical acidosis (SARA) is a common metabolic disorder in dairy cows in the first 100 days in milk or in beef cattle after restocking and acclimation period, that negatively affects the animal health and production.
To increase knowledge on the role of bovine innate and acquired immune function facing metabolic and immunologic challenges, the Research Topic will investigate:
1) The inflammatory response of beef cattle after vaccination for Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) and its possible relationships with SARA.
2) The effect of ruminal acidosis on innate and adaptive immune responses in dairy cattle. The PhD student will be exposed to a range of clinical-pathological analyses including hematology, flow cytometry, and clinical chemistry. Acute phase proteins, inflammatory cytokines, metabolic parameters, and peripheral leukocyte subsets will be analyzed and correlated with the presence of inflammatory and infectious diseases.
Five publications related to the Research Topic for the candidate interview:
- Abdallah, A., Hewson, J., Francoz, D., Selim, H., & Buczinski, S. (2016). Systematic Review of the Diagnostic Accuracy of Haptoglobin, Serum Amyloid A, and Fibrinogen versus Clinical Reference Standards for the Diagnosis of Bovine Respiratory Disease. In Journal of veterinary internal medicine (Vol. 30, Issue 4, pp. 1356–1368). https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.13975
- Abuelo, A., Mann, S., & Contreras, G. A. (2023). Metabolic Factors at the Crossroads of Periparturient Immunity and Inflammation. In Veterinary Clinics of North America - Food Animal Practice (Vol. 39, Issue 2, pp. 203–218).
- Guerra-Maupome, M., Slate, J. R., & McGill, J. L. (2019). Gamma Delta T Cell Function in Ruminants. In Veterinary Clinics of North America - Food Animal Practice (Vol. 35, Issue 3, pp. 453– 469).
- Horst, E. A., Kvidera, S. K., & Baumgard, L. H. (2021). Invited review: The influence of immune activation on transition cow health and performance—A critical evaluation of traditional dogmas. In Journal of Dairy Science (Vol. 104, Issue 8, pp. 8380–8410 https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2021- 20330
- Palomares, R. A., Bittar, J. H. J., Woolums, A. R., Hoyos-Jaramillo, A., Hurley, D. J., Saliki, J. T., Ferrer, M. S., Bullington, A. C., Rodriguez, A., Murray, T., Thoresen, M., Jones, K., & Stoskute, A. (2021). Comparison of the immune response following subcutaneous versus intranasal modified-live virus booster vaccination against bovine respiratory disease in pre-weaning beef calves that had received primary vaccination by the intranasal route. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetimm.2021.110254
Contact person
Prof. Maria Elena Gelain
Department of Comparative Biomedicine and food science (https://www.bca.unipd.it/)
University of Padova
tel.: +39-049-8272872
e-mail: mariaelena.gelain@unipd.it
