Authors: IVAN FASULKOV, MANOL KARADAEV, NASKO VASILEV, VALENTINA URUMOVA, TEODORA MIRCHEVA
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess changes in acute phase proteins fibrinogen and haptoglobin, as well as hematological, blood biochemical, and microbiological alterations in local Bulgarian goats with experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus mastitis. The experiments were conducted with 6 clinically healthy local Bulgarian goats, 2 to 6 years of age, weighing 46-57 kg. The experimental infection was done with a stationary phase culture of a field Staphylococcus aureus strain isolated from a cow with clinical mastitis. Blood haptoglobin in goats was considerably higher (P < 0.05) as early as 8 h after the pathogen's inoculation. The most significant differences from baseline values occurred 24 and 48 h (P < 0.01) after infection. Plasma fibrinogen increased significantly (P < 0.05) 8 h after infection and reached the highest mean concentration (9.12 g/L) by 72 h. Leukocytosis was established as early as 4 h after the experimental infection when leukocyte counts were significantly higher than baseline (P < 0.001). The analysis of results indicates that in experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus mastitis, significantly higher (P < 0.05) levels of the leukocyte, fibrinogen, and haptoglobin are established as early as 8 h after the infection.
Keywords: Acute phase proteins, goats, mastitis
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