Сельскохозяйственная биология, 2011, № 4, с. 72-76.

УДК 619:636.2:636.084.1:577.161:618.19-008.846.8

COLOSTRUM AS THE BASIC SOURCE OF LIPOSOLUBLE BIOANTIOXIDANTS OF NEONATAL CALVES IN THE FIRST DAYS OF LIFE

M.I. Retsky, S.V. Shabunin, O.Yu. Fomenko

The influence of colostrum to the level of liposoluble vitamins A, Е and b-carotene in blood serum of neonatal calves of red-motley breed was investigated. In calves fed colostrum at the first day after birth the concentration of vitamins A, E and b-carotene at 1 to 10 days of life was higher comparing to those in animals fed glucose instead of colostrum at the first day after birth and then colostrum — 1 day after birth. These results specify that colostrum intake at the first day of life is necessary to form the adequate antioxidante status in calves for the first week period.

Keywords: vitamin A, vitamin E, β-carotene, colostrum, bovine, neonates.

Earliest hours and days of life is the period of transition from prenatal development to postnatal ontogeny stages accompanied by a complex of adaptive reactions of vital body systems. A newborn animal reveals the genetically determined strategy of metabolic adaptation aimed at successful survival in changed environmental conditions (1). Development of a strong antioxidant protection (AOP) system is the essential stage of biochemical adaptation playing key role in adaptive reactions of the organism. Proper functioning of this system is quite important in early postnatal period proceeding under the conditions of oxidative stress (2) that largely influences etiopathogenesis of some postnatal diseases (3).
Colostrum is the main source of substances providing the antioxidant status of a newborn animal in first hours of its life. The fat-soluble natural antioxidants absorbed from the colostrum, such as vitamins A, E, β-carotene, represent the non-enzymatic link of AOP system essential for newborn animals in this period (4).
The delayed reception of colostrum by a newborn can lead to the deficit of fat-soluble natural antioxidants pool owing to further decrease of their content in the colostrum and in milk and because of the age-dependant reduce in their intestinal absorption. Finally, this disturbs the formation of an adequate antioxidant protection system and increases the risk of post-natal diseases (5).
 The purpose of this work was studying the effects of giving colostrum to newborn calves in the first day of life on the formation of non-enzymatic link of antioxidant protection system.
Technique. The experiments were performed on 22 newborn calves the Red Pied breed (JSC “Voronezhpischeprodukt”, Novousmansky region of Voronezh province) divided into two groups. Group I (control) (n = 14) was given colostrum during the 1st day of life 4 times at intervals of 4 hours: 1st and 2nd watering – 1,5 l/calf, 3rd and 4th – 2,0 l/calf; then, during the 2nd-10th days of life the calves were given milk volume of 5% of body weight. Group II (experiment) (n = 8) on the 1st day of life were watered glucose monohydrate solution at the dose of 2 g/kg body weight given under the same regime and at the same volume, then during the 2nd-10th days of life, the calves were given milk volume of 5% of body weight.
The obtained blood samples were analyzed no later than 2-3 h, the blood serum was stored at  - 20 °C for 7-10 days prior to analysis. To evaluate the intensity of free radical oxidation of lipids and the state of non-enzymatic link of AOP system, the contents of diene conjugates (DC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined in the blood of calves at the age of 1, 2, 3 and 10 days, and vitamins A, E and b-carotene were determined in the blood serum (6). Optical density was measured on the spectrophotometer Shimadzu UV-1700 (“Shimadzu Corporation”, Japan).
Statistical processing of results was performed in the computer program Statistica 5.0.  Reliability of differences was assessed by the Student's t-test pairwise comparisons at the significance level P£ 0,05.
Results. The analysis has shown the highest concentration of primary and secondary products of lipid peroxidation (LPO) in calves of both groups during the first 3 days of life (Table).

By the 10th day of live, the contents of initial and intermediate LPO products (DC and MDA, resp.) in the blood were much lower. The minimum content of these LPO products was recorded in the calves aged 30 days. This fact indicates the activation of free radical reactions in the period between 1st and 3rd days after birth and the oxidative stress proceeding in a newborn animal.
As it was indicated by the obtained data, the calves given glucose solution instead of colostrum on the 1st day of life showed  DC and MDA contents by, respectively, 10,9 and 46,3% higher than that of the animals given colostrum on the 1st day of life. In calves aged 2 days, these differences persisted and even slightly increased (for DC, the difference equaled 19,8%, for MDA –76,8%), and only after the 10-days-age the contents of LPO products began to decrease while maintaining the differences between the groups as a general trend.
The concentration of vitamin A in the blood serum of calves from Group I was 2,7 times higher than that of Group II (Table). The higher content of retinol in the blood of animals from Group I persisted until the age of 10 days. The dynamics of b-carotene and vitamin A contents in the blood serum of calves from both groups were similar. Already on the 2nd day of life, Group I demonstrated significantly higher concentration of a-tocopherol in the blood serum than Group II with a trend to increase of this difference till the 10th day. In Group II,  a-tocopherol content in the blood serum didn’t change much in all periods of the research.
The observed differences in formation of AOP status in the blood of newborn calves can be explained by biological role of colostrum. In the small intestine, colostrum stimulates the synthesis of specific proteins (7) that bind lipophilic substances (fat-soluble vitamins, etc.) whose low content in tissues and blood is associated with the limited transfer through placenta from mother to fetus (8). Formation of lipoproteins during the lipid absorption in the small intestine of calves not given colostrum on the 1st day of life can be compared to the effect found in colostrum deprived piglets (9). When colostrum is not given to a newborn during the first hours of life, it disturbs of one or more phases of absorption; this fact can explain low contents of vitamins A, E and b-carotene in the blood serum of newborn calves. Along with it, malabsorption can be the result of liver function immaturity, which also influences the efficiency of absorption of fat-soluble substances from colostrum (10).
Since the contents of b-carotene, retinol and a-tocopherol significantly decrease by the 4th milking cows after parturition (11), it is very important to give the first portions to newborn calves to provide a sufficient supply with  fat-soluble bioantioxidants (8). In experiments of J.W. Blum et al. (12), the contents of carotene, vitamins A and E in the blood serum of calves given water or glucose solution instead of colostrum on the 1st day of life were found to grow much smaller than that in calves given colostrum in 24 hours after birth; by the 7th day of life, contents of these substances were significantly lower in colostrum-deprived calves than in the calves that received colostrum on the 1st day of life.
Absorption of fat-soluble vitamins occurs much similar with absorption of fatty acids, therefore, giving colostrum to a newborn on the 1st day of life is also very important for the formation of mechanisms of intestinal absorption and transport of fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins along with proteins and peptides (13).
Thus, giving colostrum to a newborn calf on the 1st day of life provides the adequate status of fat-soluble bioantioxidants in the blood, which significantly increases total antioxidant protection and effectively combats the oxidative stress. The calves given colostrum on the 1st day of life and deprived of it showed significantly different contents of fat-soluble bioantioxidants in the blood serum, which indicates that watering colostrum in the first 24 hours of life ensures the optimal antioxidant status determined by fat-soluble vitamins contained in colostrum. Colostrum deficiency on the 1st day of life or its delayed supply (giving it on the 2nd and subsequent days of life) can’t be compensated by later intake of colostrum and / or milk.

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