INFLUENCE OF EXOGENOUS BOVINE SOMATOTROPIN ON THE RESPONSIVENESS OF PERIPHERAL-BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES TO MITOGEN

Our objectives were to determine the effects of exogenous bovine somatotropin on peripheral blood lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogen and on concentrations of serum insulin-like growth factor-I and to determine whether a statistical relationship exists between these two variables. The cows on trial were treated with 0, 10.3, or 20.6 mg/d somatotropin, starting between wk 4 and 5 of lactation and continuing for 266 consecutive d. Lymphocyte proliferation (counts per minute) and concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I (nanograms per milliliter) were recorded from blood sampled at wk 3, 10, 26, 35, and 46 of lactation. The results showed that lymphocytes from the blood of treated cows responded to mitogen with higher proliferative responsiveness than cells from control cows, but that this effect required long-term treatment and adequate mitogen concentrations to be detected. The blood of treated cows also had elevated concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-I relative to that of control cows, but these were not statistically associated with the proliferative responsiveness of the peripheral blood lymphocytes to mitogen. Our results suggest that somatotropin has a role in the immune system of cows, but its mode of action and target tissues must be determined. Bovine somatotropin, injected at doses that increase milk yield, can augment cow immunity as judged by the proliferative responsiveness of peripheral blood lymphocytes in culture.