Prognostic Value of Hematological and Biochemical Parameters of Mother and Newborn Calf for Bronchopneumonia Risk Assessment in Neonatal Calves

Surveys were carried out in order to analyze the markers of endogenous intoxication; the hematological, mineral, and hormonal status of the pregnant cows; and their newborn calves in order to reveal the relationship between the parameters in the “mother-newborn calf” system and identify their role in development of predisposition to bronchopneumonia in calves in the neonatal period. The parameters for endogenous intoxication and the hematological, mineral, and hormonal status of 33 pregnant Red-and-White cows (on the 239th…262nd day of gestation) and calves produced by them (24 h after birth) at a large dairy enterprise in Voronezh oblast were analyzed. Bronchopneumonia was diagnosed in 21.2% of newborn calves in the first month of their life. The serum content of medium molecular weight peptides in cows produced the calves affected with bronchopneumonia was 98.1% higher than that in the mothers produced the calves affected with uncomplicated bronchitis ( p < 0.05). Endogenous intoxication and subclinical changes in the blood-serum mineral composition in pregnant cows caused the disorders of hematopoiesis in fetuses and newborn calves. Calves with the pronounced copper deficiency, the excess of blood-serum iron, and predisposition to the development of microcytic hypochromic anemia, which were produced from the cows with the symptoms of hypocuremia, hypocobalthemia, and signs of macrocytosis should be assigned to the risk group for bronchopneumonia. Imbalance between the steroid hormone levels in the “mother-newborn calf” system and fetoplacental insufficiency can cause declines in the immune system function and the barrier function of mucous membranes in the respiratory tract. A conceptual scheme of the relationship between the blood parameters of a mother and a newborn calf and its role in development of a predisposition to bronchopneumonia in calves in the nenonatal period has been proposed.