Neutrophil and lymphocyte response to supplementation with vitamins C and E in young calves

Calves, beginning at 3 d of age, were bottle-fed milk replacer unsupplemented, or supplemented with 10 g of vitamin C, or supplemented with 10 g of vitamin C plus 57 IU of vitamin E/kg of dry milk replacer (10 calves per treatment). Neutrophils from wk 2 and 4 blood samples were assayed for Staphylococcus aureus phagocytosis and neutrophil-mediated, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, and lymphocytes from those samples were assayed for concanavalin A-induced, phytohemagglutinin-induced, or pokeweed mitogen-induced proliferation. Ocular and nasal discharges of calves supplemented with vitamins C or C and E were less than those of controls for wk 1 to 8. Calves receiving supplementation with vitamin C and E tended to have higher mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferative responses at wk 2. Neutrophil-mediated phagocytosis and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity were lower at wk 2 and 4 for calves supplemented with vitamin C than for controls. Neutrophil function of calves supplemented with vitamins C and E together was near, or slightly higher than, that of unsupplemented calves for wk 2 and 4, suggesting that the addition of vitamin E negated the adverse effects that vitamin C alone had on neutrophil functions.