Abstract

The study was conducted on weaned New Zealand White rabbits aged 4 to 5 months. First milking liquid bovine colostrum (BC) was lyophilized to make powder. Three different doses of BC (200, 400 and 600 mg/kg b.wt. per os for 15 days) were evaluated for immunomodulatory potential against cow milk control. The best immunomodulatory dose was then evaluated for assessing the potential of BC for the prevention ofEscherichia coli diarrhea. It was observed that lyophilization decreased IgG non-significantly by 10.52%. Further, BC supplementation enhanced the cell mediated immune response with significant protective potential on causation of E. coli diarrhea, as long as it was given with residual effect as well.

Key words: Bovine colostrum, immunomodulation, Escherichia coli diarrhea, rabbit.