The objective of the study was to evaluate the electrophoretic pattern of serum proteins in dairy cows suffering from various inflammatory diseases, and to study the influence of these diseases on the concentrations of protein fractions. Fourty dairy cows with clinical signs of various inflammatory diseases were used in the study, including cows with post-partum metritis (n=10), mastitis (n=7), and hoof diseases (n=23). The cows were of a black pied Holstein-Friesian breed, Slovak spotted breed and their crossbreeds at the age of 3.5 to 8 years. Fourteen clinically healthy dairy cows were taken as the control group. The cows were blood sampled for the determination of total serum proteins and serum protein fractions. The protein fractions were divided into albumin, α1-, α2-, β1-, β2-, and γ-globulins. In cows with post-partum metritis we found significantly lower concentrations of albumin (P<0.001) and significantly higher values of α1-globulins (P<0.01) compared with healthy animals. Significantly higher concentrations of β1-globulins were observed in cows with mastitis (P<0.001), while the γ-globulin fraction was non-significantly higher. In cows with hoof diseases we recorded significantly lower values of albumin (P<0.001), significantly higher concentrations of α1- and β1-globulins (P<0.001), and non-significantly higher β2- and γ-globulins. Moreover, in the electrophoretic pattern of serum proteins we found β-γ bridging in thirteen cows with hoof diseases. Presented data suggest marked influence of inflammatory diseases on the concentrations of serum protein fractions in dairy cows. However, further investigations are needed to establish the diagnostic utility of serum protein electrophoresis in bovine clinical practice in relation to inflammatory diseases.
