2014-016 – Subclinical Mastitis Detection: Fluorescence Assays for Proteases

Researchers at Kansas State University are developing a fluorescence assaythat has the potential to detect early signs of preclinical and subclinical mastitis in dairycattle. Early detection of preclinical and subclinical mastitis could help milk producers moreeffectively detect bacterial infections in order to administer therapeutic interventionstrategies to stop the spread of mastitis throughout their herd and keep individual animalsin production. Proteases are often released from leukocytes involved in acute or chronic inflammatoryconditions such as mastitis, infections, arthritis, etc. This diagnostic assay is comprised ofprotease-sensitive cleavage sequences, which are used as linkers between two fluorophores(nanoparticles and/or organic or inorganic dyes). Optical (fluorescence) can be performedfor quantitative determination of the proteases’ activities. For preclinical or subclinicalmastitis detection, only small amounts of milk (1-2 ml) per animal are required. Sampleswould be sent to a central location (for example, a veterinary health center) for analysisusing fluorescent plate readers. It may be possible to test bulk milk samples to ascertainherd health status. KSU is also developing a test strip to allow producers to detect subclinical mastitis on thefarm. The advantages include extreme sensitivity and low cost Caronda Moore caronda@ksu.edu 785-532-1366