Project Overview
Commodities
- Animals: bovine
Practices
- Animal Production: animal protection and health, feed additives, therapeutics
Proposal abstract:
The development of morbidities including diarrhea, septicemia, and respiratory disease
impairs growth and increases mortality in dairy calves. Calf morbidity and mortality are also
sources of economic loss for the dairy industry. Effective colostrum management is one
approach to enhance passive immunity but the benefit is short-lived. Indeed, the calf is most
likely to develop a morbidity pre-weaning because of underdeveloped innate and adaptive
immune systems. This “gap in immunity” predisposes calves to infection and morbidity, which
are commonly managed by antibiotic administration. However, antibiotic mismanagement and
resistance are societal concerns. Non-antibiotic therapies are needed to improve calf health and
sustainable dairy production. We propose to investigate dietary lysophospholipid
supplementation to enhance innate and adaptive immunity in pre-weaned calves. In non-
ruminants, the lysophospholipid lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) activates neutrophils and
peripheral blood mononuclear cells to protect against endotoxemia. Therefore, we aim to
determine whether dietary LPC supplementation enhances innate and adaptive immune function
(objective 1) and growth (objective 2) in pre-weaned Holstein calves. Our approach will involve
feeding pre-weaned calves milk replacer unsupplemented or supplemented with LPC. Calves
will be intravenously challenged by bacteria-derived endotoxin to study infection. We will
leverage our experience studying bovine lipid biology and an integrated commercial partnership
to fast-track new milk replacer product development for on-farm utilization. Our outreach plan
involves the dissemination of knowledge and practice through peer-review publications,
conference proceedings, and community extension. The project outcome is the development of a
dietary approach to elevate immune function in pre-weaned calves to protect against morbidity.
Project objectives from proposal:
- Our first objective is to test the hypothesis that dietary lysophospholipid supplementation enhances innate and adaptive immune function in pre-weaned Holstein calves.
- Our second objective is to test the hypothesis that dietary lysophospholipid supplementation enhances growth performance in pre-weaned Holstein calves.