International Journal of Dairy Science and Technology Vol. 1 (2), pp. 033-041 October, 2014.© Advanced Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Impacts of Taraxacum mongolicum on in vitro reaction of milk somatic cells empowered by lipopolysaccharide and subclinical mastitis in dairy cows in vivo

Jay Gou

Department of Animal Science, faculty of Agricultural Science, Tunghai university, Taichung, Taiwan.

E-mail: jaygou@yahoo yahoo.com.cn.

Accepted 29 September, 2014

Abstract

The anti-inflammatory effects of Taraxacum mongolicum (TM) were investigated in Holstein-Friesian dairy cows, in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, isolated milk somatic cells were pretreated with various concentrations (31 to 500, μg/ml) of TM extract (TME) and subsequently incubated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 μg/ml). The results show that TME treatment had no effect on cell viability; however, it significantly suppressed LPS-induced expression of nitric oxide (NO), interleukin(IL)-8, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in milk somatic cells, in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo, 14 lactating Holstein-Friesian cows, with subclinical mastitis, were randomly assigned to two groups and fed a diet with (treatment group, n=7, 150 g TM powder per head per day) or without (control group, n=7) TM supplementation for 14 days. Cows fed with TM powder had a significantly (P<0.05) reduced somatic cell count, total bacteria count and IL-8 in milk compared to the control group. In conclusion, the anti-inflammatory effects of TM were associated with down-regulation of NO and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Addition of TM as a dietary supplement might minimize the impact of subclinical bovine mastitis.

Key Words: Cytokine, mastitis, somatic cell count, Taraxacum mongolicum, traditional Chinese medicine.