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Association of CXCR1 gene polymorphism with apoptosis of blood and milk neutrophils in early lactating dairy heifers

Joren Verbeke, Sofie Piepers (UGent) , Luc Peelman (UGent) , Mario Van Poucke (UGent) and Sarne De Vliegher (UGent)
Author
Organization
Abstract
After calving, dairy heifers are expected to initiate a healthy and highly productive first lactation. Unfortunately, these animals often freshen with intramammary infection followed by an inflammatory reaction, referred to as heifer mastitis. Whether or not the infections will persist depends, among other factors, on the number and quality of the milk neutrophils the pathogens encounter just after invading the udder. Apoptosis impairs neutrophil functionality and effectiveness against pathogens and is more pronounced in early lactation than in mid and late lactation. A high variability in neutrophil impairment both in blood and milk between periparturient heifers has been observed suggesting a genetic predisposition (Piepers et al., 2009). Besides chemoattraction, binding of interleukin 8 on the CXCR1 and CXCR2 receptors on neutrophils causes a delay in spontaneous and induced apoptosis. The main objective of this study was to analyze to what extent polymorphism in the CXCR1 gene is associated with apoptosis of blood and milk neutrophils. Fifty-five heifers originating from 19 Belgian dairy farms were sampled in the periparturient period. Apoptotic neutrophils in blood and milk were identified flow cytometrically using a double fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-annexin-V and propidium iodide (PI) staining (Piepers et al., 2009). DNA was isolated from heifers’ blood and sequenced for the whole coding region of CXCR1. In total, 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms making up for 9 genotypes and 4 haplotypes were detected. Differences in the proportion of apoptotic neutrophils between CXCR1 genotypes were borderline significant for blood (P = 0.06) and highly significant for milk (P < 0.001). Heifers expressing haplotypes associated with high proportions of apoptotic blood neutrophils also had more apoptotic neutrophils in milk. In conclusion, CXCR1 genotype was associated with apoptosis of milk neutrophils and might therefore explain a substantial part of the observed variation in host resistance against pathogens. Results are promising and further research is required to unravel the relevance of CXCR1 polymorphism for the innate immune responses and eventually for heifer mastitis susceptibility. References: Piepers S., Opsomer G., Meyer E., Demeyere K., Barkema H.W., de Kruif A., De Vliegher S. (2009). Heifer and quarter characteristics associated with periparturient blood and milk neutrophil apoptosis in healthy heifers and in heifers with subclinical mastitis. J Dairy Sci. 92:4330-9.
Keywords
apoptosis, neutrophil, CXCR1 polymorphism

Citation

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MLA
Verbeke, Joren, et al. “Association of CXCR1 Gene Polymorphism with Apoptosis of Blood and Milk Neutrophils in Early Lactating Dairy Heifers.” Physiology and Genomics of Mastitis, Abstracts, 2011, pp. 36–36.
APA
Verbeke, J., Piepers, S., Peelman, L., Van Poucke, M., & De Vliegher, S. (2011). Association of CXCR1 gene polymorphism with apoptosis of blood and milk neutrophils in early lactating dairy heifers. Physiology and Genomics of Mastitis, Abstracts, 36–36.
Chicago author-date
Verbeke, Joren, Sofie Piepers, Luc Peelman, Mario Van Poucke, and Sarne De Vliegher. 2011. “Association of CXCR1 Gene Polymorphism with Apoptosis of Blood and Milk Neutrophils in Early Lactating Dairy Heifers.” In Physiology and Genomics of Mastitis, Abstracts, 36–36.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Verbeke, Joren, Sofie Piepers, Luc Peelman, Mario Van Poucke, and Sarne De Vliegher. 2011. “Association of CXCR1 Gene Polymorphism with Apoptosis of Blood and Milk Neutrophils in Early Lactating Dairy Heifers.” In Physiology and Genomics of Mastitis, Abstracts, 36–36.
Vancouver
1.
Verbeke J, Piepers S, Peelman L, Van Poucke M, De Vliegher S. Association of CXCR1 gene polymorphism with apoptosis of blood and milk neutrophils in early lactating dairy heifers. In: Physiology and Genomics of Mastitis, Abstracts. 2011. p. 36–36.
IEEE
[1]
J. Verbeke, S. Piepers, L. Peelman, M. Van Poucke, and S. De Vliegher, “Association of CXCR1 gene polymorphism with apoptosis of blood and milk neutrophils in early lactating dairy heifers,” in Physiology and Genomics of Mastitis, Abstracts, Tutzing, Germany, 2011, pp. 36–36.
@inproceedings{2125832,
  abstract     = {{After calving, dairy heifers are expected to initiate a healthy and highly productive first lactation. Unfortunately, these animals often freshen with intramammary infection followed by an inflammatory reaction, referred to as heifer mastitis. Whether or not the infections will persist depends, among other factors, on the number and quality of the milk neutrophils the pathogens encounter just after invading the udder. Apoptosis impairs neutrophil functionality and effectiveness against pathogens and is more pronounced in early lactation than in mid and late lactation. A high variability in neutrophil impairment both in blood and milk between periparturient heifers has been observed suggesting a genetic predisposition (Piepers et al., 2009). Besides chemoattraction, binding of interleukin 8 on the CXCR1 and CXCR2 receptors on neutrophils causes a delay in spontaneous and induced apoptosis. The main objective of this study was to analyze to what extent polymorphism in the CXCR1 gene is associated with apoptosis of blood and milk neutrophils. Fifty-five heifers originating from 19 Belgian dairy farms were sampled in the periparturient period. Apoptotic neutrophils in blood and milk were identified flow cytometrically using a double fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-annexin-V and propidium iodide (PI) staining (Piepers et al., 2009). DNA was isolated from heifers’ blood and sequenced for the whole coding region of CXCR1. In total, 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms making up for 9 genotypes and 4 haplotypes were detected. Differences in the proportion of apoptotic neutrophils between CXCR1 genotypes were borderline significant for blood (P = 0.06) and highly significant for milk (P < 0.001). Heifers expressing haplotypes associated with high proportions of apoptotic blood neutrophils also had more apoptotic neutrophils in milk. In conclusion, CXCR1 genotype was associated with apoptosis of milk neutrophils and might therefore explain a substantial part of the observed variation in host resistance against pathogens. Results are promising and further research is required to unravel the relevance of CXCR1 polymorphism for the innate immune responses and eventually for heifer mastitis susceptibility.
References: Piepers S., Opsomer G., Meyer E., Demeyere K., Barkema H.W., de Kruif A., De Vliegher S. (2009). Heifer and quarter characteristics associated with periparturient blood and milk neutrophil apoptosis in healthy heifers and in heifers with subclinical mastitis. J Dairy Sci. 92:4330-9.}},
  author       = {{Verbeke, Joren and Piepers, Sofie and Peelman, Luc and Van Poucke, Mario and De Vliegher, Sarne}},
  booktitle    = {{Physiology and Genomics of Mastitis, Abstracts}},
  keywords     = {{apoptosis,neutrophil,CXCR1 polymorphism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Tutzing, Germany}},
  pages        = {{36--36}},
  title        = {{Association of CXCR1 gene polymorphism with apoptosis of blood and milk neutrophils in early lactating dairy heifers}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}