扰流风机降温对奶牛泌乳性能和免疫功能的影响

    Effects of spoiler fan cooling on lactation performance and immune function in dairy cows

    • 摘要: 为研究奶牛舍采用扰流风机降温对奶牛泌乳性能和免疫功能的影响,该研究选择结构和饲养管理相同的两栋泌乳牛舍,检测安装风机(风机舍)和不安装风机(对照舍)对不同时期奶牛泌乳性能、淋巴细胞凋亡率、血液理化指标及免疫相关基因mRNA表达的影响,并分析奶牛泌乳性能、免疫性能指标与等温指数(equivalent temperature index for cattle,ETIC)之间的相关性。结果表明:1)安装风机改善了舍内温热环境,整个试验期风机舍的平均ETIC较对照舍降低了3.52 ℃,有效缓解了奶牛的热应激。2)风机舍的产奶量和4%标准乳在试验中、后期均显著高于对照舍(P<0.05),且风机舍的乳脂率较对照舍也表现出显著性提高(P<0.05)。3)安装风机改善了热应激条件下奶牛的免疫功能。与对照舍相比,风机舍奶牛血液中淋巴细胞数量在试验中、后期显著增加(P<0.05),并降低了淋巴细胞的早期凋亡率(P<0.05),淋巴细胞中促凋亡因子Bax的mRNA表达量及其血清浓度在试验后期均表现出显著性降低(P<0.05),抗凋亡因子Bcl-xl的mRNA表达量(P<0.01)及其血清浓度(P<0.10)在试验中、后期表现出增加趋势。此外,风机舍的血清白细胞介素-12(Interleukin-12, IL-12)和免疫球蛋白G(Immunoglobulin G, IgG)浓度较对照舍也表现出显著性增加(P<0.05)。4)从各项指标之间的相关分析得出,乳蛋白率、淋巴细胞数量与ETIC均呈显著负相关关系(P<0.05),淋巴细胞BAK mRNA表达、血清IL-6浓度与ETIC呈显著正相关关系(P<0.05)。 可见,安装扰流风机可改善舍内温热环境,有效缓解夏季奶牛的热应激,提高奶牛生产性能和免疫功能。

       

      Abstract: Heat stress has been one of the most important factors in the dairy industry against global warming in recent years. The milk performance of dairy cows can be confined to long-term heat stress. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of spoiler fans cooling on milk performance and immune function in dairy cows. Two cowsheds were used with the same building structure and system. The spoiler fan were installed, while the control cowshed was uninstalled any fans. The lactation performance (including milk yield, 4% fat-corrected milk, milk protein rate, milk fat rate and lactose rate) and lymphocyte apoptosis rate were detected in different experimental periods; Meanwhile, blood biochemical parameters and their mRNA expression were also investigated, including four kinds of cytokines (Interleukin-1 (IL-1), Interleukin-2 (IL-2), Interleukin-6 (IL-12), and Interleukin-12 (IL-12)), six kinds of apoptotic factors (BAK, Mcl-1, Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and P53), and three kinds of immunoglobulins (Immunoglobulin A (Ig A), Immunoglobulin G (IgG), Immunoglobulin M (IgM)). Besides, Spearman correlation analysis was carried out between milk performance or immune parameters and equivalent temperature index for cattle (ETIC). Approximately 200 Holstein lactating dairy cows were kept in each cowshed. The whole experiment period was 42 days from June to August, including four stages: initial (0 d), early (1-14 d), middle (15-28 d) and late stage (29-42 d). The results showed that: 1) The installed fans improved the cowshed environment, where the ETIC was reduced by 3.52 ℃ during the entire period, compared with the control cowshed. Cows in the control shed were in the moderate heat stress, while cows in the fan-installed shed were in the mild heat stress. Thus, the fans significantly alleviated the heat stress in cows. 2) Installation of fans improved the production performance of dairy cows exposure to heat stress. The milk yield, 4% fat-corrected milk, and milk fat increased in the fan-installed shed during the middle and late periods of experiments, compared with the control shed (P<0.05). Particularly, the 4% fat-corrected milk increased by 39.1% during the middle period and by 35.2% during the late period, respectively. 3) Installed fans improved the immune function of dairy cows under heat stress. Blood lymphocyte counts during the middle and late periods were greater in the fan-installed shed than those in the control group (P<0.05), and their early apoptosis rates of lymphocytes decreased (P<0.05). Moreover, there was a reduction in the mRNA expression of pro-apoptotic factor Bax in lymphocytes and its serum level (P<0.05) during the late period. An increase was found in the mRNA levels of anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-xl in lymphocytes and its serum level was demonstrated during the middle and late periods. Besides, the installed fans increased the serum levels of IL-12 and IgG (P<0.05). 4) The correlation analysis showed that the milk protein rate and the lymphocyte count demonstrated a negative correlation with ETIC (P<0.05), and the BAK mRNA expression in lymphocyte and serum IL-6 level exhibited a positive correlation with ETIC (P<0.05). In conclusion, the spoiler fans in the shed can be expected to effectively relieve the heat stress in cows in summer, thus promoting the thermal environment and blood biochemical indicators in cows for better production performance and immune function.

       

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