Table 2.
Effects of phytonutrients on the immune function, health, and performance of calves, dairy cows, sheep, and goats
| Animal | Strain/Type | Dose | Duration/Frequency | Health/Production Status | Outcome | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calf | Oregano | 1%, 1.5%, or 2% oregano oil in MR | 4 d to weaning | Low risk, 4 d of age to 5 mo | Increased IgG concentrations, decreased fecal score, reduced Enterobacteriaceae shedding | Ozkaya36 2018 |
| Calf | Oregano | 100 ppm/hd/d | 120 d | Low risk, 30–150 d of age calves | No reduction in Eimeria oocyst shedding | Grandi et al,37 2016 |
| Calf | Oregano | 12.5 mg/kg | 15 d | Preweaned | Decreased incidence, severity, and duration of scours | Katsoulos et al,38 2017 |
| Calf | EO | Multiple doses 0–281 mg/calf/d | 24 wk | Low risk | Reduced health scores, scours, and antibiotic treatment | Soltan,39 2009, and Oh et al,40 2017 |
| Calf | Pomegranate | 140 mg polyphenols/g DM; about 5%–20% total DMI | 8 wk | Postweaned; apparently healthy; low risk; 11 mo old | Increased DMI, tendency for increased weight gain | Shabtay et al,41 2008 |
| Calf | Pomegranate | 5 and 10 g/d top-dressed onto starter | 70 d | Apparently healthy; low risk; 0–70 d old | Increased peripheral cytokine synthesis (IFN-γ, IL-4), improved IgG response to ovalbumin vax, no effect on fecal scores or rectal temperatures | Oliveira et al,42 2010 |
| Dairy cow | EO (garlic, oregano) | 3 mL intravaginally, 12 mL intramammary, 25 mL topical teat dip | Once daily for 3 d, 2× daily for 1 d, and 1 application | Mid to late lactation multiparous Holstein cows, Streptococcus uberus mastitis challenge | No cure of mastitis | Mullen et al,43 2108 |
| Dairy cow | EO | 0, 100, and 200 mg/d | 28 d | Lactating | Increase CD4+ T-cell response to vaccine/immune challenge, tendency to increase milk production | Oh et al,44 2016 |
| Dairy cow | Grape | 4.5 g/hd/d | 75 d | Apparently healthy, mid lactation; low risk | No effect on SCC, tendency to increase milk yield | Nielsen & Hansen,45 2004 |
| Dairy cow | Grape | 10 g/d mixed into pellets | 3 wk pre-/postcalving; 44 total day approx. | Apparently healthy; primiparous, 7 mo pregnant | Lowered leukocyte mRNA expression of SOD during initial 3 wk postpartum; no effect on glutathione peroxidase expression | Colitti & Stefanon et al,46 2006 |
| Dairy cow | Green tea | 100 μg/mL | 12 h | In vitro study; mammary epithelial cells isolated from lactating Holstein cows | Greater cell viability, protein, mRNA abundance of NFE2L2; lower intracellular ROS accumulation in response to H2O2 challenge | Ma et al,47 2018 |
| Transition dairy cow | Mixture | 150 g/d prepartum; 170 g/d postpartum | 25 d prepartum/26 d postpartum | Apparently healthy; multiparous, primiparous Holstein transition cows | Lower serum NEFA, lower NEFA:insulin postpartum, improved insulin sensitivity pre-/postpartum, higher total antioxidant capacity prepartum; lower malondialdehyde pre-/postpartum | Hashemzadeh-Cigari et al,48 2015 |
| Transition dairy cow | Pomegranate | 350 g DM/d for seeds only; 1350 g DM/d pulp (seeds + peels blend) | 25 d pre-/postpartum | Apparently healthy; multiparous, primiparous Holstein transition cows | Higher total plasma antioxidant capacity, lower TAG/FFA/BHBA at both pre-/postpartum, pulp blend increased SOD, decreased MDA postpartum, higher FCM yield | Safari et al,49 2018 |
| Transition dairy cow | Grape | 1% of DM | 3 wk prepartum until 9 wk postpartum | Multiparous, primiparous Holstein transition cows | Reduced mRNA expression of FGF21 (liver stress hormone) postpartum, no effect on hepatic inflammatory gene expression, increase daily milk yield, increase daily milk protein yield | Gessner et al,50 2015 |
| Transition dairy cow | Green tea | 0.175 g/kg feed DM | 3 wk prepartum until 9 wk postpartum | Primiparous, multiparous Holstein transition cows | Trend for reduced mRNA (haptoglobin), reduced mRNA (FGF21) postpartum; no difference (TNF), (CRP), higher ECM wk 2–9 postpartum; lower hepatic TAG, cholesterol concentrations wk 1 and 3 postpartum | Winkler et al,51 2015 |
| Sheep | Mixture (4 compounds) | Single ruminal infusion; 10% DMI | 1 d | Apparently healthy; 18-mo-old, castrated males | Grape-enhanced total plasma antioxidant capacity; reduced plasma susceptibility to liperoxidation | Gladine et al,52 2007 |
| Sheep | Green tea | 2, 4, or 6 g/kg feed DM | 8 wk | Lambs infected with Haemonchus contortus GIT parasites | Decreased serum APPs at all dosages (Hpt, LBP, a1AGP), regulate SAA in dose-dependent manner, higher ADG in infected, supplemented lambs vs. infected only lambs; reduced adult worm burden to uninfected levels at 6 g/kg group | Zhong et al,53 2014 |
| Goat | Green tea | 2, 3, or 4 g TC/kg DM feed | 60 d | Low risk | Reduced plasma glutathione most efficaciously at 2 g dosage; over 3 g dosage reduced plasma protein and globulins (bad) | Zhong et al,54 2011 |
| Goat | Green tea | 2.0% on weight:weight ratio | 90 d | Low risk, castrated male goats | Linear increase average weight gain and feed intake, increased splenic cell growth, reduced intramuscular TBARS | Ahmed et al,55 2015 |
Abbreviations: ADG, average daily gain; APP, acute-phase proteins; BHBA, beta-hydroxybutyric acid; DIM, days in milk; DM, dry matter; DMI, dry matter intake; ECM, energy-corrected milk; EO, essential oil; FCM, fat corrected milk; FFA, free fatty acids; MDA, malondialdehyde; MR, milk replacer; NEFA, nonesterified fatty acid; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SAA, serum amyloid A; SCC, somatic cell count; SOD, superoxide dismutase; TAG, triacylglycerol; TBARS, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances.