Monitoring of neutralizing antibodies against infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus in calves

O presente estudo foi realizado em uma fazenda do município de Viradouro, localizada no Nordeste do Estado de São Paulo. Teve como objetivo monitorar ao longo de 8 meses os títulos de anticorpos neutralizantes para o BHV-1, em bezerros nascidos de vacas que estavam ou não infectadas naturalmente por este vírus e que foram vacinadas e revacinadas contra a Rinotraqueíte Infecciosa Bovina (IBR) antes do parto. Foram analisados, através do teste de soroneutralização, os soros sangüíneos de 34 bezerros, divididos em quatro grupos. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que nos grupos de bezerros nascidos de vacas reagentes e não vacinadas os anticorpos de origem colostral persistiram, em média, até os 3 meses de idade. de modo geral, bezerros nascidos de vacas vacinadas, independentemente de estarem infectadas ou não, apresentaram médias de títulos de anticorpos maiores que as médias demonstradas por bezerros provenientes de vacas não vacinadas. No entanto, devido à elevada prevalência do BHV-1 (86,8%) no local de estudo, mesmo esses títulos de anticorpos não impediram a infecção desses animais. A alta prevalência do BHV-1 resultou na detecção de anticorpos de origem materna em bezerros nascidos de vacas que, inicialmente, não foram reagentes ao teste de soroneutralização, provavelmente como resultado da soroconversão das respectivas mães no intervalo transcorrido entre a triagem e o momento do parto. A alta prevalência observada também ocasionou a infecção dos bezerros, filhos de vacas não vacinadas, após o declínio dos anticorpos de origem colostral.The present study was accomplished in a farm in the municipality of Viradouro, in Northeast region of São Paulo State, aiming at monitoring during a period of 8 month the serum neutralizing antibody titers against BHV-1, in calves born from BHV-1 naturally infected or not infected cows. These cows were vaccinated and revaccinated against Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) before parturition. The blood serum of 34 calves, separate in four groups, were analysed in this experiment. The results demonstrated that in groups of calves borned from soropositive and unvaccinated cows, the colostral antibodies persisted, in mean, until the calves were 3 months old. Calves borned from vaccinated cows, independent of these cows being infected or not, in general, presented means of antibody titers higher than the means presented by calves from unvaccinated cows. However, not even these antibody titers impeded the calves infection owing to high prevalence of BHV-1 (86.8%) in the locality of the study. The high prevalence of BHV-1 (86.8%) in the locality of the study resulted in the detection of maternal antibodies, by the serum neutralization test, in calves borned from uninfected cows, probably as a result of cows seroconversion in the interval between the screening test and parturition. The high prevalence also led to the infection of the calves from unvaccinated cows after the decline of colostral antibodies

Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) activity in dairy calves

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of propolis extracts diluted in different solvents against bacteria from Staphylococcus genus. The study was performed in the Immunology and Microbiology Laboratory from Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco. The propolis extracts were prepared using brown propolis diluted in different solvents such as chloroform, methanol, ethyl acetate and grain alcohol. In order to determine the antimicrobial potential of extracts, agar well diffusion method was used, with controls for each diluent. After that, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) methods were used. All tests were performed in triplicate. In the agar well diffusion test, the measurements of the inhibition zone for propolis extract were as follows: grain alcohol and propolis (2.88mm), methanol and propolis (2.41mm), chloroform and propolis (2.40mm) and ethyl acetate and propolis (0.83mm). The MBC of propolis extracts in different solvents were 93.75 μg/mL for grain alcohol, 375 μg/mL for chloroform and methanol and 3,000 μg/ml for ethyl acetate. Statistically significant differences were achieved comparing the inhibition zones of propolis diluted in grain alcohol and ethyl acetate (2.88 and 0.83 mm, respectively). Considering the low cost of therapy and the activity of the propolis against caprine mastitis pathogens, other studies regarding in vivo activity and chemical characterization are necessary, in addition to evaluation of the toxicological aspects of propolis extracts