Supplementation of trisodium citrate improves recovery rate of subclinical mastitis in crossbred cows

Abstract Mastitis is the top most reason for antibiotic usage, which is an important public health concern due to antimicrobial resistance development in pathogen. Citrate is an important precursor for milk synthesis and regulation of homeostasis between Ca2+ and H+ ions and thereby milk fluidity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of trisodium citrate (TSC) on recovery of subclinical mastitis (SCM) in HF crossbred cows. Apparently healthy lactating cow’s milk samples were screened by somatic cell count (SCC) and California mastitis tests (CMT) methods for three consecutive days. Animals were diagnosed as SCM affected (n = 16) or healthy (n = 6) using milk SCC cutoff value of 200×103 cells/ml (i.e., ≥ 200 ×103 cells/ml as SCM and ≤ 200 ×103 cells/ml as healthy) and classified into three groups based on parity, stage of lactation and milk yield during pre-treatment period. SCM affected cows (n = 8) supplemented with TSC (30 mg/kg B.wt./day for 28 days) and effect of supplementation was evaluated through milk SCC, CMT score, milk yield, milk composition, milk citrate level and bacteriological cure rate in comparison with non-supplemented SCM affected cows (n = 6) and apparently healthy cows (n = 8). Data were analyzed by using mixed model and McNemar's test. Supplementations of TSC cause no significant changes in milk yield and its composition. Supplementation cause significant (P < 0.001) reduction of milk SCC and CMT score with more bacteriological cure rate. It is concluded that supplementation of TSC favored for more bacteriological cure rate in SCM affected cows.