Influence of cadmium on the cellular part of the immune system of young cattle

The article presents the results of research on the effect of cadmium load on the body of young cattle. The negative effect of Cadmium on the liver causes a wide range of pathological changes at different levels of its organization. The impact of heavy metals on the immune system is particularly significant, because it performs a leading role in maintaining health and is recognized as one of the most sensitive to adverse factors, even in relatively low concentrations. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of cadmium on the cellular part of the immune system of young cattle. The research was carried out on 10 bulls of six months of age, Ukrainian black-and-white dairy breed, which were formed into 2 groups of 5 animals each: control and experimental. The bulls of the control group were on a normal diet. Animals of the experimental group were administered cadmium chloride at a dose of 0.04 mg/kg body weight of the animal. It was found that feeding bulls with a diet of cadmium chloride, the number of B-lymphocytes on the 5th day of the experiment was 17.54 ± 0.95 %. The lowest number of B-lymphocytes was on the 20th day of testing – 15.12 ± 0.37 %. The study of the number of T-lymphocytes shows that at the beginning of analysis the number of T-lymphocytes in the blood of animals of the control and experimental groups ranged from 40.70 ± 3.62 and 40.85 ± 2.54 %. Subsequently, the number of T-lymphocytes in the blood of the experimental group began to decline. The lowest number of T-lymphocytes was in the experimental group of animals on the 20th day of the research, compared with the control group, this figure decreased by 3.63 %. The state of immunity of animals under cadmium load significantly depends on the ratio of T-helpers to T-suppressors. It was found that the immunoregulatory index of blood of bulls of the experimental group probably decreased from 10 days of the research. The number of T-helper lymphocytes in the blood of the experimental group of bulls under cadmium loading is probably reduced by 15, 20 and 30 days of testing. A probable increase in the number of T-suppressors was noted in the bull's blood of the experimental group on the 20th day of the research. Immunoglobulins of different classes are crucial among bull’s serum proteins under cadmium loading. The concentration of immunoglobulins in the blood under cadmium load decreased by 15.9 % relative to the control group on the 20th day of analysis.