Quantitation of the cytokines TNF-a, IL-8 and IL-10 in bovine milk using Real-Time TaqMan® PCR

none5The expression of the TNF-a, IL-8 and IL-10 cytokines in somatic milk cells harvested from 15 dairy cows, was determined by Real-Time TaqMan® reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (real-time TaqMan® RT-PCR) method. Values of TNF-a were found to be higher in samples from mastitic than from healthy cows, and showed no relationship to the Somatic Cell Count (SCC). On the contrary, the chemotactic factor IL-8 was shown to be higher in samples with high SCC, but showed no relationship to the presence of bacteria in the mammary gland. The results demonstrated that the presence of bacteria appeared to stimulate the synthesis of TNF-a but not that of IL-8 in the bovine udder.mixedA. Peli; A. Luciani; P. De Santis; A. Polci; D. BrittiA. Peli; A. Luciani; P. De Santis; A. Polci; D. Britt