SERUM AMYLOID-A (SAA) AND HAPTOGLOBIN (HP) PLASMA-CONCENTRATIONS IN NEWBORN CALVES

The concentrations of 2 major bovine acute-phase proteins, haptoglobin (Hp) and serum amyloid-A (SAA), were measured in plasma obtained shor tly after birth from 22 healthy calves. In a separate group of disease d calves (n=8, Kp and SAA concentrations were measured to determine wh ether newborn calves (up to 4 d old) are able to produce SAA and Hp. I n blood samples taken directly after birth, the Hp plasma concentratio ns were all below the limit of detection. The mean SAA concentration w as independent of weight (r=0.063), degree of acidosis (r=-0.125), sex (p>0.05), and were not different in calves born after different types of obstetrical help (p>0.05). In the group of diseased calves, an inc reased Hp concentration was measured in only 2 of 8 animals, whereas t he mean SAA concentration was significantly higher (p<0.05) than in th e healthy newborn calves. These data suggest that prenatal stress due to parturition does not form a stimulus for the production of acute-ph ase proteins in the fetal calf. The low Hp plasma concentrations might indicate that either it takes a few days to establish a detectable co ncentration of this protein, or that Hp production is not fully develo ped in newborn calves.