Change of antibody levels to ferritin in the sera of foals after birth: possible passive transfer of maternal anti-ferritin autoantibody via colostrum and age-related anti-ferritin autoantibody production.

The research discussed in this article involves the measurement of antibody (IgG, IgM, and IgA) levels in relation to ferritin in foal (young horse) sera, and the study suggests that foals receive antibodies to ferritin from their mother’s colostrum after birth, and then produce their own antibodies as they age.

Research Methodology

• To study the passive transfer of maternal anti-ferritin antibody to foals via colostrum and the subsequent production of anti-ferritin antibodies as the foals age, the researchers carried out a series of semi-quantitative measurements on six foal serum samples.
• The researchers adopted a normalization methodology, with antibody activity to ferritin in one adult horse serum used as the reference point.
• Ferritin is a protein that stores iron, and its quantity in a serum sample can be determined post interaction with anti-ferritin antibodies present in the serum.
• The researchers used a procedure known as co-immunoprecipitation, in which they intended to precipitate complex formed between antibodies to ferritin and ferritin itself once it was added to the serum sample.
• Transferrable antibodies relevant to the study – IgG, IgM, and IgA – in the precipitated complex were eventually detected.

Study Findings

• The researchers found that six adult horse serum samples demonstrated ferritin-binding antibodies relating to all classes (IgG, IgM, and IgA).
• While the levels of these antibodies in the foal sera were found to be low before the consumption of colostrum, they noticed an increase in activity by the time the foals were 2 weeks old.
• The research also found that IgM antibodies had a tendency to increase up to the age of 40 weeks, while IgG antibodies showed a biphasic response.
• Perhaps most crucially, they found that IgG, IgM, and IgA activities in three colostrum samples were significantly higher than in adult horse serum samples, implying a passive immunoglobulin transfer from mare to foal.
• The study thus concludes that antibodies to ferritin in foal serum derive from the colostrum consumed post-birth and are produced thereafter as the foal ages.