Relationship between lactoferrin, minerals, and somatic cells in bovine milk

Selection for increased mastitis resistance is hampered by lack of available data. Currently, somatic cell count or score are proven indicators. However, it should be a priority to increase the number of available indicator traits for mastitis resistance. The aim of this research was to study the relationships among potential indicator traits as lactoferrin content, concentrations of major minerals in milk (calcium, Ca; sodium, Na; phosphore, P), and somatic cell count. First, 3 calibration equations Breeding and Genetics: Breeding for Milk Quality and Test-Day Model Applications were developed using partial least squares regressions to predict the contents of Ca, Na, and P in milk by mid-infrared spectrometry. A total of 1,609 milk samples were collected between March 2005 and May 2006 for 475 cows from 6 dairy breeds. Based on their spectral variability, 100 samples were selected using a principal components approach. The contents of these minerals were estimated by emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The ratio of standard deviation to standard error of cross validation obtained for the equations predicted the contents of Ca, Na, and P were superior to 2 suggesting the use of these equations in this research. Second, the relationship between lactoferrin, minerals and somatic cells was studied using a random regressions multi-trait animal test-day model. A total of 57,973 milk samples were collected from 94 herds between April 2005 and January 2008 during milk recording in the Walloon part of Belgium.