The effect of different quantities and compositions of pelleted diets on immune response of mares during the production of anti-tetanus sera.

This research examined how variations in the diet of mares affect their immunity, and ability to produce anti-tetanus serum. It found that diet did slightly influence immunity, but didn’t significantly alter blood properties.

Research Procedure

• The experiment involved 24 cross-bred mares, divided into a control and a trial group of 12 animals each.
• This study was conducted for 12 months, with both haematological (study of blood) and immunological (study of the immune system) tests performed every 30 days.
• Across the experiment’s duration, each mare was subjected to 11 immunisation cycles. No mare became sick during this period.

Key Findings

• The research found that there were no differences in leukocyte (type of white blood cell) and haematocrit (the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood) counts between the control and test groups throughout the entire experiment.
• However, there was an increase in leukocyte count following the second immunization cycle in both groups of mares and remained higher than the normal physiological value in horses throughout the experiment.
• The varying quality and quantity of the concentrated meal portion had no impact on leukocyte count and haematocrit level in the mares through the duration of the experiment.

Conclusion

• The study found that the test group showed slightly higher value of immunodiffusion titre (a measure of the concentration of antibodies) than the control group.
• This suggests that the differing proportions of the meal had a slight impact on the immune response and anti-tetanus antibody titre in the test group compared to the control group.