The role of leucocytic infiltration into milk in destructing pathogenic flora introduced into mammary gland is well known (3, 5, 6). It has been proved, too, that the number of leucocytes passing from blood into milk need not be too high for effective counteraction against proliferation of microorganisms at their single intramammary introduction (7). It was observed in the previous works (8, 9) that phagocyting activity of milk leucocytes from mammary gland in subclinical inflammation state was lower than phagocyting activity of blood leucocytes of the same cow; similar observations were made in relation to the opsonins level. In the present work it has been decided to investigate phagocyting activity of leucocytes of cow milk during acute mastitis stimulated by different factors. The observations concerned also opsonins level in milk and serum and the rate of phagocyting microorganisms introduced into milk.
The authors studied the in vivo phagocytic activity of the uterine leucocytes of cows following delivery of dead or weak calves. The phagocytic indices of uterine leucocytes in examined cows were twofold lower on the 8th and 12th days than those on the 1st and 4th day of puerperium. The factors depressing the phagocytic ability of leucocytes of cows delivering dead or weak calves were discussed.