Systemic and local bactericidal potentiality in late lactation Holstein-Friesian cows following a combined antibiotics and Enterococcus faecium SF68 dry-cow treatment.

Antibiotic dry-cow treatment contributes a major part to the total use of antibiotics in dairy herds. Enterococcus faecium strain SF68 (SF68) was of human origin but has been authorized in EU as probiotic feed additive. In the present study, one of the front and rear quarters of twelve late lactation Holstein-Friesian cows were infused once with a commercial antibiotic dry-cow formula (antibiotics quarter) on the first milk-stasis day (d 1), when the contrallateral quarters were infused with 5 x 10(8)-CFU SF68 plus half-dose antibiotic dry-cow formula (SF68/antibiotics quarter) meanwhile. Gelatinase level and cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production capacity were measured for blood and quarter secretion. The results showed that the count of blood total leukocytes minorly decreased on d 3 only but the microscopic somatic cell count (MSCC) continuously increased up to d 7, especially in SF68/antibiotics quarters. Plasma level of gelatinase A remained similar up to d 7 but gelatinase B was not detectable in plasma throughout the study. The level of gelatinase A in quarter secretion increased up to d 7 but gelatinase B increased even more drastically, especially in SF68/antibiotics quarters. The ROS production capacity of blood leukocytes increased temporarily only on d 3, but that of milk cells continuously increased up to d 7, especially in SF68/antitiotics quarters. Overall, late lactation Holstein-Friesian cows were systemically adaptable to the combined antibiotics and SF68 dry-cow treatment, while the local bactericidal potentiality in mammary gland was actively responsive to additional SF68 intramammary treatment.