INFLUÊNCIA DA PAREDE CELULAR DE Saccharomyces cerevisiae NA SAÚDE DE BEZERRAS IMUNOLOGICAMENTE IMATURAS

Abstract

Cell wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is rich in immunomodulators and there are still no studies on their use in the intestinal and respiratory health of newborn calves. With this, supplementation with cell wall of S. cerevisiae was evaluated in improving the health of calves in health challenge of eimeriosis and bovine respiratory disease (BRD). Twenty heifers from 15 to 51 days of age, all with naturally acquired eimeriosis, were challenged with intranasal vaccine against DRB. The Supplemented group received S. cerevisiae cell wall (10 g/kg/animal), once a day in milk and the Control group was not supplemented. Clinical and immunological parameters were measured - diarrhea, pneumonia and weight gain, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, neutrophil oxidative metabolism (OM), immunoglobulins and haptoglobin. After vaccination, all animals increased the neutrophil: lymphocyte ratio and the control group showed a reduction in OM three days after the vaccine. The supplement influenced the immune response, maintaining MO, increasing immunoglobulin levels and decreasing haptoglobin levels. The supplement attenuated diarrhea and pneumonia, which allowed for greater weekly weight gain, concluding that the S. cerevisiae cell wall improved the health of calves challenged with eimeriosis and the DRB vaccine.