Composition for treating mastitis and metritis

Abstract: A composition comprising diacetyl and acetoin for use in the treatment of mastitis and metritis is described. Preferably the composition may be used to treat bovine mastitis and metritis.

Description: This invention relates to the treatment of mastitis and metritis, particularly but not exclusively, bovine mastitis and metritis. Mastitis and metritis are two well known diseases which affect both humans and non-humans. Although mastitis simply means inflammation of the mammary gland, it is clinically understood that the inflammation is caused by some infectious agent, usually bacteria. While there are various species of Staphylococcus organisms and Streptococcus organisms which cause mastitis in cows, cow-to-cow transmitted mastitis is usually caused by Staphylococcus aureus , Streptococcus agalactiae , and Streptococcus dysgalactiae . On the other hand, environmental mastitis, that is mastitis infection from the environment, is caused primarily by Streptococcus uberis and E. coli . Although there are a number of other bacterial organisms that cause bovine mastitis, the organisms referred to above are the most common causes of mastitis. Mastitis continues to be a major cause of economic loss in the dairy industry even though there are methods of treating this disease. Currently, the primary method of treating mastitis in cows (inflammation of the udder) as well as treating metritis (inflammation of the uterus) is antibiotic therapy. However, the antibiotics used and their method of application tend to leave residues in the milk so that milk from cows treated with antibiotics must still be kept from human consumption. This discarding of the milk from the cows under treatment is one of the more expensive aspects of mastitis. There are several reasons that milk contaminated with antibiotics should not be sold. Some people are allergic to antibiotics, especially penicillins, and fatalities have occurred relating to allergic reactions. If milk gained a public reputation for containing antibiotics, then sales of liquid milk might decline rapidly. Antibiotics consumed by humans at low dilute levels will also allow various pathogenic bacteria that are currently sensitive to these antibiotics to become resistant. Further, antibiotics can destroy the bacterial cultures used in yoghurt and cheese manufacture. Finally, present regulations require milk from treated cows to be kept from the human food chain for three days. New regulations of longer holding times that are envisioned could deal the dairy industry a devastating blow. There is therefore a need for a treatment of mastitis/metritis which overcomes some or substantially all of the problems outlined above. I have found that a combination of diacetyl and acetoin can be used to prepare a medicament for use in the treatment of mastitis and metritis. Diacetyl is also known as 2,3-butanedione having the formula CH 3 COCOCH 3 . Acetoin is also known as 3-hydroxy 2-butanone, dimethyketol, or acetyl methylcarbinol having the formula CH 3 CHOHCOCH 3 . In JP-A-5902 9618 there is described a dental caries inhibitor containing one or more of a group of over thirty possible compounds, including diacetyl and acetoin. Whilst technically this might allow for the possible combination of diacetyl and acetoin, no such combination is described. Diacetyl is also described as a possible active ingredient in an antiinflammatory ointment in SU-A-715087. Accordingly I provide use of a composition comprising diacetyl and acetoin in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of mastitis and metritis. This combination of diacetyl and acetoin, while having bactericidal characteristics, does not produce the problems associated with antibiotic therapy, namely residual antibiotics in the milk. A preferred feature of this invention is the use of the combination of diacetyl and acetoin in the treatment of bovine mastitis and bovine metritis. Diacetyl and acetoin are also components of milk fermentation. Milk fermentation using bacteria such as Streptococcus diacetilactis , Streptococcus lactis , and Streptococcus cremoris produce compounds such as diacetyl, acetoin and volatile acids. These end products are of insufficient strength but they can be distilled or extracted and concentrated (what is known as "starter distillate"). Such concentrates have been used to add flavour to dairy foods. In the present invention, the fermentation end products of diacetyl and acetoin may be concentrated by a factor of five (5 x starter distillate) or a factor of fifteen (15 x distillate) in order to acquire the required concentrations. The concentration of diacetyl in the present compositions may be in the range 15 parts per million (ppm) to 50,000 ppm. The concentration of acetoin may be in the range 2 to 20,000 ppm. Most preferably the concentrations of diacetyl and acetoin are about 7,500 ppm and 50 ppm respectively. Generally, the present invention includes the use of "concentrated" amount of diacetyl in comparison with a "trace" amount of acetoin. With respect to bovine mastitis and metritis, the combination of diacetyl and acetoin may be infused into the udder cistern of the infected cow. Similarly, the diacetyl and acetoin may be infused into the uterus of an infected cow when treating metritis. Compositions of diacetyl and acetoin may also include an anti-inflammatory agent such as cortisone or aloe vera juice. Antibiotics could also be added to the composition for enhancing the efficacy of the diacetyl and acetoin. Such antibiotics may include penicillin, synthetic penicillins (cloxacillin or ampicillin), antibiotic combinations (e.g. penicillin and streptomycin), tetracyclines or neomycins. Tea tree oil (Maleluca) may also be added to the composition to enhance anti-bacterial anti-inflammatory activity in the udder or uterus. Experiments using the mixture of diacetyl and acetoin were performed on animals in test trials in the field. Mastitic cows usually have a swollen hot udder and show flaky milk on strip test. The mastitis cows, when diagnosed with hot udder and showing flaky milk on strip test, were classified as to the type of bacterial infection such as E. coli , Streptococcus or Staphylococcus organisms. EXAMPLE I Various concentrations of distilled diacetyl with traces of acetoin and volatile acids in the form of starter distillate were infused into the udder and observations on inflammation reduction, return to normalcy of milk, milk samples for positive bacterial presence, taste test and strip tests were performed. The following results were obtained: Number of Cows Type of Infection Strength Diacetyl & Acetoin Amount of Infusion 100% Cure 4 E. Coli 5 x distillate 25cc per treat 12 hrs 4 Streptococcus 5 x distillate 25cc per treat 24-36hrs 4 Streptococcus 15 x distillate 25cc per treat 12 hrs 4 Staphylococcus 5 x distillate 25cc per treat 24-42hrs 4 Staphylococcus 15 x distillate 25cc per treat 18hrs EXAMPLE II Cows with metritis were randomly divided into antibiotic groups and diacetyl groups. Cows were infused with the traditional antibiotics or different doses of starter distillate diacetyl. Swabs were taken every 24 hours and the uterus was palpated for Signs of inflammation. The uteruses that did not respond to diacetyl were switched to antibiotics. Results were as follows: Number of Cows Antibiotics Time Return To Normal Number of Cows Diacetyl Acetoin Return To Normal 2 Normal amounts 24 hrs 2 100cc (10x) 1 in 48 hrs 2 Normal amounts 48 hrs 2 100cc (10x) 72 hrs 2 Normal amounts 72 hrs 2 100cc (10x) 3 times every 12 hours 48 hrs These trials show that diacetyl with acetoin can fully replace antibiotics to treat mastitis and most cases of metritis. Since diacetyl and acetoin are approved for human consumption by the Food and Drug Administration of the united States of America for flavoring dairy products, the potential contamination of milk of diacetyl post treatment should not be a problem.

Claims: Use of a composition comprising diacetyl and acetoin in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of mastitis. Use of a composition comprising diacetyl and acetoin in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of metritis. The use as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the medicament includes an anti-inflammatory agent. The use as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the anti-inflammatory agent is either cortisone or aloe vera juice. The use as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the medicament includes Tea tree oil (Maleluca). The use as claimed in any one of Claims 1, and 3 to 5 wherein the mastitis is bovine mastitis. The use as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 5 wherein the metritis is bovine metritis.

Inventors: RAJAMANNAN A H J, RAJAMANNAN, A.H.J.
Applicants: RAJAMANNAN A H J, RAJAMANNAN, A.H.J.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A61K31
IPC codes: A61K31, A61K36, A61P15, A61K9, A61P31