Lactoferrin and transferrin in bovine milk in relation to certain physiological and pathological factors

Mean transferrin and lactoferrin concentrations in whey samples from 376 uninfected quarters of 42 Holstein X Friesian cows on the 30th, 150th and 270th days of lactation were respectively 0.030 and 0.080 mg/ml. The mean transferrin concentration in serum was 4.63 mg/ml. Lactation number and location of quarters did not influence milk lactoferrin and transferrin values. Lactoferrin concentration increased significantly (P less than 0.01) in uninfected quarters from 0.03 to 0.06 and to 0.15 mg/ml on the three successive sampling times. Transferrin whey concentration increased significantly (P less than 0.01) only in late lactation, from 0.025 (30th and 150th days of lactation) to 0.035 mg/ml (270th day of lactation). Lactoferrin concentration increased significantly (P less than 0.01) in quarters infected by major pathogens (41 samples) whereas minor pathogen infections (61 samples) caused no significant increase. The correlation coefficients between milk lactoferrin and transferrin concentrations and somatic cell-count were 0.42 and 0.65 respectively.