Cytokine profile of cattle blood serum in the treatment of the hoof sole ulcers
Authors: Sliusarenko D. , Ilnitsky M. 
Published: July 2019

The paper deals with the results of investigation inflammation markers level ‒ IL-1-RA (receptor antagonist IL-1), IL-4, IL-6 cows serum, patients with soles ulcers when performing orthopedic hoof treatment with two methods ‒ local treatment, and complex method ‒ local treatment in combination with the of epidural analgesia 0,2% bupivacaine.
Therapeutic blockade with local anesthetics make analgesic and pathogenetic therapeutic effects on the animal organism, can be successfully used as a component of postoperative analgesia in surgical treatment. Bupivacaine ‒ local anesthetic can be used for epidural analgesia in the postoperative period with the blocking of sensory fibers without loss of motor function.
It makes sense to study using of 0,2% bupivacaine solution in clinical conditions with a therapeutic purpose in surgical diseases of cattle. Determination of the level of interleukins is informative in relation to the study of the course of the inflammation process, the immune status of animals during treatment, and indicates the intensity of regenerative processes in damaged tissues.
The purpose of the research is to determine the state of inflammatory response to the level of serum blood cytokines in cows with hoof sole ulcers for two treatment methods ‒ local in animals of the control group and integrated treatment in animals of the experimental group, which included local treatment with the therapeutic bupivacaine epidural blocks.
In the control group of animals (n=5), only the local treatment. Animals of the experimental group (n=5), conducted an epidural puncture and catheterization between the last sacral and the first caudal vertebrae. The catheter was left in the epidural space. Bupivacaine injection was performed with an analgesic and therapeutic purpose of 0,2 % solution in terms 3 days. After the first injection of bupivacaine, the hoof sole was cleaned and treated locally. As inflammatory markers, the level of IL-1-RA (IL-1 receptor antagonist), IL-4, IL-6 in serum was studied, since the level of these indicators reflects the state of the pro- and anti-inflammatory system. In the course of the research, the obtained results of the control and experimental groups among themselves were compared, with the baseline data before treatment in each group, as well as with the indicators of clinically healthy cows.
We conducted a comparative characteristic of indicators in the application of integrated treatment compared with only local treatment of the site of the lesion. Blood was taken from the tail vein. Stages of research: before orthopedic treatment, after orthopedic treatment in 30 minutes, 3 days, 14 days, 34 days after starting treatment. Blood serum tests were conducted in the Laboratory “Alvis-class”, Kharkiv using the semi-automatic immunoassay analyzer StatFax 303+ (USA).
It was found that the use of a complex treatment method is accompanied by a lower level of inflammatory reaction of the body of cows compared with only local treatments. In animals of both groups, the level of IL-1RA significantly did not change throughout the study period, compared with the rates before treatment, but was significantly different in both groups of diseased animals (p <0,05 and p <0,01) from the indicator of healthy animals, which is associated with the presence of chronic inflammatory process ‒ hoof sole ulcers.
The level of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 in diseased animals prior to treatment did not differ from that of healthy animals. During treatment in animals in the experimental group, this indicator was significantly increased earlier than in the control group, compared with the baseline (p<0,05) and healthy animals (p<0,01), indicating a gradual activation of the anti-inflammatory cytokine and contributed to the tissues regeneration of affected limbs. However, such changes occurred later in the animals of the control group than in the animals of the experimental group. Dynamics of level IL-4 in animals with ulcerous soles is associated with the activation of recovery processes of damaged tissues, which in the experimental group manifested at earlier times than in the control.
The content of IL-6 diseased animals, which is the main inducer of the acute phase of inflammation, was significantly higher in both animal groups prior to treatment than in healthy animals. In experimental animals in 3 days the level of IL-6 decreased by 5,3 times, in control ‒ by 3,3 times. After 14 and 34 days in both groups there was a further decrease in the level of IL-6. Considering that IL-6 is the main inducer of the acute phase of inflammation it can be difference in IL-6 level in the animals of the experimental and control groups was due to the effect of the therapeutic epidural blockade of bupivacaine, which increased blood circulation, trophic processes in the limb region, which contributed to accelerating the regeneration of damaged tissues.

Key words: hoof sole ulcers, epidural analgesia, bupivacaine, interleukins, IL-1-RA, IL-4, IL-6, cattle.