Colostrum quality and Oxidative stress
During the peripartum period , the massive modulation of metabolism , physiology , immunity , etc., frequently generates the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which causes oxidative stress. The negative correlation between maternal oxidative imbalance and colostrum quality has been confirmed by several studies.
Some studies have shown that the supplementation of antioxidants in the diet of cows increases their concentration in the colostrum , and improves the production of IgG in the colostrum , thus increasing the immune defenses . In order to optimize the quality of the colostrum , it is therefore very important to control the oxidative stress for the well-being of the animal . Therefore, antioxidant status appears to be as important as immune status (Przybylska et al., 2007). Grape extracts are well known for the antioxidant power of polyphenolsthey contain to solve these problems.
Nor-Grape® BP-O supplementation to improve colostrum quality in cows
21 Holstein cows (at the end of gestation ) were divided into two groups:
- Control group (CTL, 9 cows) fed with a ration containing forage (hay, corn silage), a nitrogen corrector (soya/rapeseed 70:30) and a concentrate.
- Nor- Grape® BP-O group (NG, 12 cows) fed with the same ration supplemented with 670 mg/cow/day of a commercial encapsulated grape extract (Nor-Grape® BP-O).
All cows were fed these rations 2 weeks before calving . Colostrum was collected and analyzed. Antioxidant activity was measured by DPPH method and immune status was measured by radial immunodiffusion method with IgG analysis.
Antioxidant activity of colostrum (DPPH)
Observations on cow colostrum
The results highlighted the positive and significant effect of Nor-Grape® BP-O on the antioxidant capacity and the IgG content of colostrum (p<0.05) of supplemented cows.
In this study, supplementation with Nor-Grape® BP-O during the peripartum period improved the antioxidant status of colostrum by more than 10% and the immune status of colostrum (IgG concentration) by more than 50% .
IgG concentration in colostrum
