The present study was undertaken to examine whether oral administration of colostrum to mastitic cows reduced inflammation in the udder. Fifty milliliters of a colostrum whey product was administered orally daily for 3 days to cows suffering from mastitis. Milk was collected on day 0 and 7 of colostrum administration. For Experiment 1, milk from 11 udder quarters with high somatic cell counts (SCC) in four cows was used. SCC in milk decreased significantly after colostrum administration, whereas colostrum administration increased sodium and IgA concentrations significantly compared with those before administration. In Experiment 2, cows with clinical mastitis were divided into two groups, with and without colostrum administration, whereas all cows with subclinical mastitis were administered colostrum. Antibiotics were infused into the mammary gland from the first day of colostrum administration for 2-4 days. There was no significant decrease in SCC after colostrum administration in any group. However, udder firmness in both clinical mastitis groups was reduced after administration regardless of colostrum administration. IgA concentration in both clinical mastitis groups was significantly increased after colostrum administration compared to that before administration, although there was no significant difference between them. These results suggest the possibility that oral administration of colostrum attenuates inflammation of the mammary gland. Further studies are required to examine the effect of colostrum more precisely using cows with subclinical and chronic mastitis and longer duration of colostrum administration.
Keywords: colostrum; immunoglobulin A; mastitis; somatic cell count.