Serum iron concentration is a useful biomarker for assessing the level of inflammation that causes systemic symptoms in bovine acute mastitis similar to plasma haptoglobin

The aim of present study was to evaluate the precision of plasma haptoglobin (HPT), serum iron (Fe) and plasma transferrin (Tf) concentrations as biomarkers of the severity of acute mastitis (AM) in cows. Fourteen Holstein Friesian cows with AM were divided into severe (n=8) and mild groups (n=6) based on systemic and local inflammation, and 12 healthy cows were also enrolled as controls. As a result, significant changes were observed in plasma HPT and serum Fe concentrations. The proposed cut-off points for plasma HPT and serum Fe concentrations for the severity of AM in cows based on receiver operating characteristic analyses were >10.3 µg/ml and <49.0 µg/dl, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the plasma Tf concentration.