Bovine mastitis is a multi-etiological inflammatory condition of the udder in dairy cattle causing milk yield and economic loss

worldwide. Bacteria are the common source of infection causing mastitis. The host response to infection involves release of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α. The abundant release of pro-inflammatory cytokines by the somatic cells results

in tissue injury. Antibiotics are the common mode of treatment for bovine mastitis which largely target the pathogen but not the tissue microenvironment. The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Aloe vera and Curcuma longa based fresh ethnoveterinary herbal formulation against mastitis (EVFM) on the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and bacterial load in the milk samples of mastitic cows. Crossbred Jersey / HF cows with clinical signs of mastitis were selected and the EVFM was applied topically on the udder for 5 days (six times per day). The qPCR analysis of cytokine expression in milk somatic cells revealed a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in IL-6 and IL-8 post EVFM treatment and a marked decrease in the TNF between day 0 and day 6 post treatment. The total Viable count was restored to normal from 1.3 ×10 7- 2.0 ×10 7 CFU/ml (Day 0) to 1.7×10 5-3.5×10 6 CFU/ml (Day 6). Our study provides evidence that EVFM possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial effect in the treatment of clinical cases of mastitis.

Highlights

• Ethnoveterinary herbal formulation reduced mRNA levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in milk somatic cells.
• Ethnoveterinary herbal formulation reduced the total bacterial count in mastitis.