Antioxidants improve cattle immunity following stress

Free radical and nonfree radical oxidants can produce damaging effects in animal tissues if antioxidants are deficient. These oxidants are produced during metabolism and may be substantially increased by aerobic exercise, stress, tissue injury, infection, and detoxification of many compounds. Stress may precede an infectious episode in animals by decreasing antioxidants needed later by an active immune response. Antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin E, β-carotene and the trace elements selenium, copper, zinc and manganese in enzymes are very important in protecting an animalʹs tissues from oxidative destruction. This protective benefit also results in an improved immune response which decreases mastitis in dairy cows and infectious disease incidences arising in stressed cattle following shipping. The amount of nutrients needed for immunoenhancement is higher than the suggested required amounts by NRC.