Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Department of Ruminant Production, IRTA, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologies Agroalimentàries, Caldes de Montbui, Spain.
J Anim Sci. 2018 Sep 29;96(10):4136-4148. doi: 10.1093/jas/sky291.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single dose of subcutaneous (s.c.) meloxicam administered at the time of knife and band castration on inflammatory response and wound healing over 56-d post-castration. Seventy-two Angus crossbred calves (47.3 ± 6.70 kg of body weight [BW] and 7 to 8 d of age) were randomly assigned according to a 3 × 2 factorial design assessing castration method: sham (CT), band (BA), and knife (KN) castration, and pain mitigation: non-medicated (NM) and medicated calves (M) injected s.c. with meloxicam (0.5 mg/kg of BW). Calf BW, rectal temperature, swelling ("0": no swelling; "4": swelling needing intervention) and healing score ("1" to "5" with "5" being completely healed), scrotal circumference, and maximum scrotal temperature were measured on d -1, immediately before castration (d 0), and weekly thereafter over a 56-d period. Blood samples for haptoglobin (Hp), serum amyloid-A (SAA), and complete blood cell count were collected according to the same schedule. Hair samples were collected on d -1, 28, and 56 to determine cortisol concentrations. Standing and lying behaviors were measured using accelerometers that were placed on the calves on d -1 until d 35, and visual observations of behaviors related to pain were recorded once a week for 35 d. Knife-castrated calves achieved swelling scores of "3" and "2" between d 7 and 14, which was sooner (Z< 0.05) than in BA calves (from d 14 to 35). In addition, greater (P = 0.03) concentrations of SAA were observed in BA calves (76.9 ± 0.12 g/liter) compared with CT (57.6 ± 0.12 g/liter) and KN (51.6 ± 0.12 g/liter) from d 7 to 35. Healing scores of "2" and "4" tended to be achieved sooner (Z < 0.10) in KN calves than in BA calves, although healing scores of "3" tended to be achieved sooner (Z < 0.10) in BA calves than KN calves. No differences (P > 0.10) were observed among treatments for hair cortisol on d -1 and 28, but on d 56, hair cortisol concentrations in BA-NM calves were greater (P > 0.05) than for CT-NM, BA-M, KN-NM, and KN-M, and tended to be greater (P = 0.08) than for CT-M calves. Lying duration tended (P = 0.10) to be greater and suckling behavior tended (P = 0.08) to be lower in NM than M calves. A single s.c. injection of meloxicam did not reduce long-term inflammatory responses or improve wound healing; however, it may be useful in reducing pain and stress in band castrated calves as evidenced by reduced hair cortisol concentrations up to 56 d post-castration.
本研究旨在评估在断脐去势时单次皮下注射美洛昔康对去势后 56 天内炎症反应和伤口愈合的影响。72 头安格斯杂交犊牛（体重 47.3 ± 6.70 千克，年龄 7 至 8 日）根据 3×2 析因设计随机分配，评估去势方法：假手术（CT）、去势带（BA）和去势刀（KN），以及疼痛缓解：未用药（NM）和皮下注射美洛昔康（0.5mg/kg BW）的用药（M）犊牛。在 d-1、去势前即刻（d0）和此后每周测量犊牛体重、直肠温度、肿胀（“0”：无肿胀；“4”：需要干预的肿胀）和愈合评分（“1”至“5”，“5”表示完全愈合）、阴囊周长和最大阴囊温度。根据相同的时间表采集血液样本，用于测定血色素（Hp）、血清淀粉样蛋白-A（SAA）和全血计数。在 d-1、28 和 56 采集毛发样本，以确定皮质醇浓度。在 d-1 至 35 天期间，在犊牛身上放置加速度计以测量站立和躺卧行为，每周对与疼痛相关的行为进行一次视觉观察。用刀去势的犊牛在 d7 至 14 天之间达到肿胀评分“3”和“2”，这比 BA 去势（从 d14 至 35 天）更早（Z<0.05）。此外，BA 去势组（76.9±0.12g/L）从 d7 至 35 天 SAA 浓度显著高于 CT（57.6±0.12g/L）和 KN（51.6±0.12g/L）（P=0.03）。KN 去势组的愈合评分“2”和“4”更早（Z<0.10）达到，但 BA 去势组的愈合评分“3”更早（Z<0.10）达到。NM 犊牛与 CT-NM、BA-M、KN-NM 和 KN-M 处理之间在 d-1 和 28 时的毛发皮质醇没有差异（P>0.10），但在 d56 时，BA-NM 犊牛的毛发皮质醇浓度显著高于 CT-NM（P>0.05），且倾向于高于 CT-M（P=0.08）和 KN-M 犊牛。NM 犊牛的躺卧时间较长（P=0.10），吮乳行为较少（P=0.08）。单次皮下注射美洛昔康并未减轻长期炎症反应或改善伤口愈合；然而，它可能有助于减轻去势带去势犊牛的疼痛和应激，这可从去势后 56 天的皮质醇浓度降低得到证明。
