Mobilization of neutrophils and defense of the bovine mammary gland

The leucocytes present in normal milk are not very efficient in preventing infection, because very small numbers of bacteria are able to induce infection experimentally. The mobilization of phagocytes from the blood to milk appears crucial in coping with the expansion of the bacterial population in the mammary gland. Important parameters for the outcome of mammary infections are the bactericidal efficiency of neutrophils and the antiphagocytic and cytotoxic properties of the invading bacteria, but several studies have shown that the promptness and the magnitude of the initial recruitment of neutrophils by the infected mammary gland have a profound influence on the severity and the outcome of mastitis. This is an incentive for studying the mechanisms behind the mobilization of neutrophils to the mammary gland. Although milk macrophages may play a role in the triggering of the inflammatory response, studies on several responses to infections at various epithelium sites strongly suggest that epithelial cells are capable of responding to bacterial intrusion and play a major part in the initiation of inflammation. A better knowledge of the effector cells and of the mediators involved in the mobilization of neutrophils could help in devising strategies to modulate this important determinant of milk quality and udder defense.