[Effect of the sanitary state of the udder on the pyruvate content in the milk].

Studied was the pyruvate content of a total of 302 samples of "aseptic" milk as dependent on the clinical status of the mammary gland. The normal gland indices showed fluctuations from 0.48 up to 1.55 ppm at the respective cell element count, which ranged from 90000 to 480000 per cu. cm. It was found that when the secretory function of the gland was impaired the pyruvate level in the milk varied from 0.68 to 4.07 ppm at the respective cell count of 520000 to 4740000 per cm3. With milk from cows affected with subclinical mastitis the pyruvate value ranged from 0.87 to 6.13 ppm, and the cell count -- from 540,000 to 7,000,000. It is stated that the pyruvate test could not be used alone as a method in the evaluation of the clinical state of the udder, but could be referred to as an adjunct in the complex study of mammary gland.