Changes in Saliva Analytes Associated with Lameness in Cows: A Pilot Study.
Authors: Contreras-Aguilar María D, Vallejo-Mateo Pedro Javier, Želvytė Rasa, Tecles Fernando, Rubio Camila Peres
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Salivary Biomarkers and Lameness in Cattle Lameness remains a significant welfare and productivity concern in dairy cattle, yet reliable non-invasive biomarkers for objective diagnosis remain limited. Researchers screened 21 salivary analytes in lame cows before and after therapeutic hoof trimming, then validated promising candidates against a healthy control group matched for parity, days in milk, and body condition score. Total esterase activity (TEA) emerged as the key finding: lame cows (lameness score 3.1 ± 0.87 on a 5-point scale) demonstrated significantly elevated TEA compared to healthy controls (p = 0.004), with activity decreasing substantially following successful hoof trimming, and TEA positively correlating with both numerical rating and lesion scoring systems (r = 0.43 and 0.35 respectively). For equine and cattle practitioners, these preliminary findings suggest TEA warrants further investigation as a potential objective, non-invasive diagnostic aid for lameness; however, the authors rightly caution this is pilot work limited to 11 lame animals, and larger prospective studies examining various lameness aetiologies and severity grades are essential before clinical implementation can be recommended.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •TEA in saliva may serve as a non-invasive biomarker for lameness detection and severity assessment in cattle, potentially enabling earlier intervention
- •Salivary biomarkers could complement visual and clinical lameness assessment protocols currently used in herd health management
- •Further research with larger populations and multiple lameness etiologies is needed before TEA can be recommended for clinical diagnostic use
Key Findings
- •Total esterase (TEA) activity was significantly higher in lame cows (n=11) compared to healthy cows (n=11, p=0.004)
- •TEA showed positive correlation with numerical rating scale (NRS) for lameness severity (r=0.43, p=0.004) and lesion scoring system (LSS) (r=0.35, p=0.003)
- •TEA values decreased significantly 20 days after successful hoof trimming treatment (p=0.034)
- •Lipase also showed higher values at diagnosis compared to post-treatment, but TEA was the only analyte that distinguished lame from healthy cows in the larger population