bovine respiratory disease

We conducted a nested, case-control study of pre-weaned dairy calves (n = 477; 4 California dairy farms) to
assess the association between bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and hematologic biomarkers, including plasma haptoglobin
(Hp) and plasma bactericide (PB). At each location, heifer or bull dairy calves were observed 2–4 times per week until
confirmed as BRD-positive using parallel interpretation of thoracic ultrasound examination and auscultation. In addition,
control calves were enrolled after being confirmed as BRD-negative using ultrasound and auscultation. Complete blood
counts (CBC), PB, and Hp concentrations were measured. Hp values were higher in calves with confirmed BRD than
in controls (p < 0.01). The area under the curve (AUC) for the various biomarkers was obtained from the corresponding
receiver operating characteristic curves. The AUC for Hp was 0.68, a value greater than those for PB or the remaining
CBC parameters, indicating that Hp may be the most useful biomarker of BRD in pre-weaned dairy calves. The cutoff
value for Hp was 0.195 g/L.

For several years, interferon α-1, also known as interferon α-D, has been studied for treatment of various viral diseases, such as hepatic fibrosis caused by hepatitis B, herpes simplex virus keratitis, and bovine respiratory diseases in calves. Currently, recombinant human interferon α-D (rHuIFNαD) is expressed intracellularly in Escherichia coli or secreted by Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this report, we describe the process of obtaining a relatively high-yield secretion of biologically active recombinant rHuIFNαD using the Pichia pastoris system. The process produced as high as 0.7 mg of purified protein per 20 ml of shake culture of rHuIFNαD with better bioactivity than the commercially available rHuIFNαD molecule produced in E. coli.

We conducted a nested, case-control study of pre-weaned dairy calves (n = 477; 4 California dairy farms) to assess the association between bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and hematologic biomarkers, including plasma haptoglobin (Hp) and plasma bactericide (PB). At each location, heifer or bull dairy calves were observed 2–4 times per week until confirmed as BRD-positive using parallel interpretation of thoracic ultrasound examination and auscultation. In addition, control calves were enrolled after being confirmed as BRD-negative using ultrasound and auscultation. Complete blood counts (CBC), PB, and Hp concentrations were measured. Hp values were higher in calves with confirmed BRD than in controls (p &lt; 0.01). The area under the curve (AUC) for the various biomarkers was obtained from the corresponding receiver operating characteristic curves. The AUC for Hp was 0.68, a value greater than those for PB or the remaining CBC parameters, indicating that Hp may be the most useful bi...