APPLICATION OF ETHNOVETERINARY PRACTICES& VETERINARY HOMEOPATHY ARYUVEDA IN TREATMENT OF MASTITIS IN DAIRY CATTLE
Dr Preeti Verma
PG Scholar
Department of Veterinary Physiology & Biochemistry Jabalpur
College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry Jabalpur,
NDVSU Jabalpur M.P-482001
Abstract:
The plants form an essential component of ethno-veterinary medicine used in the treatment of different diseases like bovine mastitis. This review article attempts to provide an overview of the different medicinal plants used in the treatment of bovine mastitis. Antimicrobial studies of these plant species and some of their isolated constituents have been reviewed in detail. It highlights the logic and precedence behind mining this important natural product resource. Mastitis is the one of the most common diseases in dairy cattle worldwide causing great economical loss. Mastitis is mainly of bacterial origin. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli are two most common organisms causing this disease. As the vast use of antibiotics to treat this disease can have harmful impact on human health by consumption of dairy products and also can give rise to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, ethnoveterinary medicine can really consider as a better approach to treat it. Therefore, Ricinus communis, Asparagus racemosus., Terminalia bellirica and Piper betle are taken as per traditional knowledge. The inhibitory effects of these were tested against S.aureus and E.coli by using broth dilution method and agar disc diffusion method. So the promising results of this experiment show which can be utilized as a natural antibiotic against mastitis and also it has no or less adverse effect and cheaper in price.
Keyword: Mastitis, herbal drug, ethno veterinary, homeopathy
Introduction
Mastitis is a inflammation of parenchyma of mammary gland any udder injury that may result in inflammation, causative agents for the inflammatory reaction are microorganisms that have gained entry into the teat canal and mammary tissue. The extent of the infection that occurs as microorganisms multiply and proliferate within the mammary tissue determines the type of mastitis affecting the cow udder. Bovine mastitis is a disease complex which occurs in acute, gangrenous, chronic, and subclinical forms of inflammation of the bovine udder, and is due to a variety of infectious agents; animal care, hygiene, and management are important factors in this dairy cow disease of great economic importance. Mastitis continues to be the most costly disease of dairy animals. Clinical mastitis is characterized by sudden onset, swelling, and redness of the udder, pain and reduced and altered milk secretion from the affected quarters. The milk may have clots, flakes or of watery in consistency and accompanied by fever, depression and anorexia. The sub clinical mastitis is characterized by having no visible signs either in the udder or in the milk, but the milk production decreases and the Somatic cell count (SCC) increases, having greater impact in older lactating animals than in first lactation heifers. A negative relationship generally exists between SCC and the milk yield (Khan and Khan, 2006). Milk from normal uninfected quarters generally contain below 200,000 somatic cells /ml. A value of SCC above 300,000 is abnormal and an indication of inflammation in the udder. There is a plethora of evidence that the dairy cow milk has a natural level of 100,000-150,000 somatic cells/ml and higher SCC indicates secretory disturbance (Hillerton, 1999). In addition, mastitis impairs the quality of milk and milk products (Philpot, 2003). Field surveys of major livestock diseases have ranked mastitis as number one disease of dairy animals (Khan and Khan, 2006). Mastitis is considered to be the most costly disease of dairy animals affecting the dairy industry.
Causative organisms of mastitis:
In cattle have been reported to be Staphylococci, Streptococci, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp., Corynebacterium, Mycoplasma, Streptococcus dysgalactia, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Among all the pathogens of bovine mastitis, Staphylococcus aureus is the predominant organism (Kapur et al., 1992; Allore, 1993). The etiological agents of mastitis in buffaloes have been reported to be Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus hyicus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus capotus, Streptococcus dysaglactiae, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus pyogenes and Corynebacterium bovis (Ahmed, 1966; Ghumman, 1967; Qamar, 1992; Allore, 1993; Ahmad, 2001; Akram, 2002; Khan, 2002). The main etiological agents responsible for mastitis infections can be divided into different groups of organisms depending on the source of the organism involved. These include Contagious pathogens, environmental bacteria, opportunistic bacteria and other organisms that cause mastitis less frequently (Philpot, 1999).
Found on the teat surface of infected cows and are the primary source of infection between uninfected and infected udder quarters, usually during milking. Staphylococcus aureus is the species most frequently isolated from bovine mastitis, a disease responsible for significant economic losses all over the world (Oliveira, et al., 1998). The organisms that fit into this category include: Staphylococcus aureus (coagulase positive staphylococci), Streptococcus agalactiae and the less common sources of infection caused by Corynebacterium bovis and Mycoplasma bovis (Quinn, et al., 1999). Environmental pathogens are found in the immediate surroundings of the cow, such as the sawdust and bedding of housed cows, the manure of cattle and the soil. Bacteria include streptococcal strains other than S. agalactiae, such as Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis and Streptoccous bavis, Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis and coliforms such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Enterobacter aerogenes (Schroeder, 2009). Mastitis caused by
Environmental organisms:
The immune system of the host is compromised or if sanitation and hygiene is not adequately practiced (Schukken et al., 2009). Opportunistic pathogens result in mild forms of mastitis and include coagulase-negative staphylococci. The coagulase test correlates well with pathogenicity and strains that are coagulase-negative are generally regarded as non-pathogenic
(Quinn, et al.,1999). These staphylococci occur commensally and may be isolated from milk but usually illicit a minor immune response in cattle and infections caused are slight. They include S. epidermidis, S. saprophyticus, S. simulans (Nascimento, et al., 2005) and S. chromogenes (Vliegher et al., 2003). Many other bacteria and even yeasts may be responsible for causing mastitis, but are less common and occur if conditions in the environment change to increase exposure to these organisms. A condition known as “summer mastitis” occurs mostly in European countries in the summer months when wet, rainy conditions prevail. The source of infection is usually traced to an increase in exposure of the cows to flies in pastures that transmit infecting Arcanobacterium pyogenes and Peptostreptococcus indolicus strains and is more common in non-lactating cows (Sol, 1984). Mastitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is often traced to contaminated water sources and will result in a condition similar to coliform mastitis infections where endotoxemia occurs. Nocardia asteroides causes severe cases of mastitis resulting in fibrosis and permanent damage to mammary tissues (Quinn, et al., 1999). Treatment is usually ineffective and has a high mortality rate occurs. The source of the infection caused by Nocardia asteroides is usually from the soil and could be prevented by ensuring that effective sanitation measures are enforced before treatment with intramammary infusions (Philpot and Nickerson, 1999). Less common causes of bovine mastitis include Bacillus cereus, resulting in peracute and acute mastitis and also the human pathogens Streptococcus pyogenes and S. pneumonia that causes acute mastitis and is accompanied by fever symptoms in the host (Quinn, et al., 1999)
Herbal treatment of mastitis:
Medicines that are extracted from the herbs are used as intramammary infusion in the dry animals. They are “natural” and usually safe and have clinical and economical value in treating resistant bacteria (Buhner, 2014). The herbal treatment tested for dairy cows in the dry period is found to be an alternative to antibiotics (Mullen et al., 2013). Baskaran et al. (2009) demonstrated that plant derived antimicrobials have shown promise in vitro as treatments for mastitis; trans-cinnamaldehyde (from cinnamon bark), thymol (from oregano oil) and eugenol (from clove oil) were shown to be effective in milk cultures versus several major mastitis pathogens. Cinnamon and clove oils have shown antibacterial and antifungal activity for bovine mastitis (Choi et al., 2012).
Neem oil is effective against udder infections. The bark, seeds, leaves and roots of neem are used as an insect repellant. Livestock insects such as horn flies, flow flies and biting flies are controlled traditionally using neem (Ogbueniu et al., 2011). Neem oil are effective against E. coli and mastitis (Ogbueniu, 2008). Neem (Azadiracta indica) can be used as anti-inflammatory and antibacterial drug and can be an alternate therapy against bovine mastitis. Gram positive bacteria especially Staphylococcus aureus is sensitive to essential oil derived from turmeric (Gupta et al., 2015). Nigella sativa extract has potential as a therapeutic agent for Staphylococcus aureus infection causing sub clinical mastitis of dairy cows and may contribute to the cow’s recovery from mastitis (Azadi et al., 2011). It has been reported that milk somatic cell count of the quarters infected with Staphylococus aureus decreased after injection of Nigella sativa extract in Holstein cows (Azadi and Farzaneh, 2010). Herbal preparation had a positive effect on the time to recovery from mastitis and increased the rate of bactereological cure together with improving the reduction of somatic cell count in dairy cows Pinedo et al. (2013). Mullen et al. (2014) reported that the herbal treatment tested did not negatively affect milk production or somatic cell count and were just as successful as conventional dry cow therapy in curing infections during the dry period. Cows treated with the herbal preparation at dry off had fewer new infections (35%) than no treatment (49%). Thyme oil, an ingredient of the herbal treatment, has significant antibacterial activity when cultured in milk.
The role of cytokines in the pathophysiology of bovine mastitis has been the subject of many studies. Cytokines play a central role in the regulation of immune responses against different infections and variations in their expression are often associated with disease activity in immune-mediated or inflammatory disorders. Modulation of cytokine secretion may offer novel approaches in the treatment of a variety of diseases. One strategy in the modulation of cytokine expression may be through the use of herbal medicines. A class of herbal medicines, known as immune-modulators, alters the activity of immune function through the dynamic regulation of inflammatory molecules such as cytokines.
A variety of germicides such as iodine, chlorhexidine, sodium hypochlorite etc. have been tried successfully as teat dips in preventing new intra mammary infections. However, one major concern that remains with these dips is the possible passing of disinfectant of residues in milk. For this reason, use of herbal medicine as teat dip may be the best answer. Even the WHO has emphasized on the use of the medicinal plants for management of mastitis as they are safer than the synthetic drugs. The Herbal teat Dip developed is much cheaper than the products available in the market.
Use of homeopathy in treatment of bovine mastitis:
Homeopathy is based on three principles: the similia principle, drug testing with healthy humans and dilution of doses, which were developed by the German doctor Samuel Hahnemann. According to Hahnemann’s observations during drug testing, the simile is able to initiate a healing, which causes symptoms in the examination of healthy people, which are as similar as possible to the symptoms of the patient (Similia similibus curentur) (Braun 1995). Homeopathic remedies are potentiated drugs of components of plants or minerals for example, which effects are tested in drug trials on healthy people. These results are transferred to veterinary medicine, because there are rarely any homeopathic drug tests on animals (Ekert 2013). The preparation of homeopathic remedies consists of dilution and shaking or trituration of the active substance with a carrier substance. According to homeopathic understanding, the healing power contained in the drug are released through mechanical processing and strengthened with each potentiation step.
PIS MELLIFICA:
- Erysipelatous inflammation of the mammary gland
- Swelling and hardness of the mammae threatening to ulcerate
- Parts are swollen, puffed up; becomes oedematous and of shiny, red rosy colour
- Decreased thirst
- Aggravated by heat, touch, pressure and relieved by cold application
CONIUM MACULATUM
- Glands especially mammary gland is affected with engorgement and stony induration
- Ill effects of contusion and blows
- Chronic form of mastitis
- Inflammation of the mammary gland
- Scirrhus of the mammary gland after contusion
BRYONIA ALBA
- Mammary gland swelling hard and indurated
- In acute forms pain will be relieved by pressure on the udder where the animal lies down frequently
- Mammary gland hot, painful and hard
- Stony hard mammae
- Milk fever
- Aggaravated by motion relieved by pressure and lying down
ARNICA MONTANNA
- Mastitis as a result of injury to the udder tissue
- Bloody secretion
- Aggaravated touch and motion. Relieved by lying down
PHYTOLACCA
- A useful remedy for both acute and chronic forms
- Heavy, stony hard, swollen and tender mammae
- Bluish red glands
- Discharge of pus which is watery, foetid and ichorous
- In acute form curdled milk and clots. In chronic form small clots may appear
Conclusion:
Inflammatory molecules and many of their receptors may turn out to be modulated by plants and in that event the herbal medicines would have therapeutic potential for future. The results of in-vivo research suggest that the botanical medicines modulate cytokines and thus it may be concluded that Mastilep topical herbal gel possesses antibacterial and immune-modulatory activities against bovine sub-clinical mastitis. These facts are supported by reduction in total bacterial count and enhancement of cytokine expression of somatic cells in bovine mammary gland in response to the herbal therapy. The present work supports its use as alternative herbal therapy against bovine sub-clinical mastitis and may elucidate the mechanism of action for many of its therapeutic effects.
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