ABSTRACT
Objective
The aim of this study was to describe associations between peripheral leukocyte gene
expression and early postpartum disease in dairy cows with clinical metritis.
Materials and Methods
The study was conducted in a conventional dairy in Washington state. Diseased cows
≤14 DIM were enrolled (n = 11) based on evidence of clinical metritis with or without
comorbidity or prior treatments. Healthy cows (n = 9) were selected based on comparative
DIM and lactation numbers to diseased cows. Blood was collected for a complete blood
count, serum biochemistry, leukocyte isolation, and RNA extraction at enrollment and
twice more at 6- to 8-d intervals.
Results and Discussion
A total of 34,625 genes were considered and 55 were associated with health status
by the Boruta all-relevant feature machine learning selection algorithm. These were
filtered to the 15 most representative genes within the diseased cohort as compared
with the healthy cohort. The top ranked gene during every rank or error test was PGLYRP1. Its associated protein, peptidoglycan recognition protein 1, and other immunomodulatory
molecules associated with this study selectively enhance or alter host innate immune
defense mechanisms and modulate pathogen-induced inflammatory responses.
Implications and Applications
Host-defense peptides such as those associated with this study provide insight into
individual and population-level markers of disease resilience that may help improve
therapeutics, guide genetic selection, and clarify the burden of disease on animal
well-being. This is particularly relevant to the dairy cow transition period with
its metabolic and physiologic changes and associated increase in disease susceptibility.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
October 11,
2020
Received:
September 2,
2020
Footnotes
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
