CONCENTRATION AND SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTEINS IN CALF URINE AFTER COLOSTRUM INTAKE

Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of urinary proteins excreted after colostrum intake under physiological conditions by calves were investigated in this study. Tests were carried out on 7 black and white spotted calves from birth to 38 hours old. The mean concentration of calf urinary proteins, after colostrum intake up to 16 hours after birth was 2,7 a 2,4 g/l, while after 30 hours it was 2,8 + 3,5 g/l. The high values of SD indicated great individual variation in concentrations of urinary proteins from the examined calves. The concentration of urinary proteins of newborn calves cannot be analysed using variation measures derived from normal distribution. Two categories of proteins of different origin were shown to appear in the urine of newborn calves. One was derived from blood plasma proteins, but the other category of proteins was not identified in blood plasma. IgG and albumin were the predominant components among proteins of serum origin. Albumins excreted in the urine after colostrum intake were observed. They were shown to be heterogeneous with regard to molecular mass and had a higher electrophoretic mobility than blood serum albumins. Three protein fractions with antigenic properties similar to serum IgG were defected. These fractions differed from complete IgG molecules with respect to electrophoretic mobility and molecular mass. it was concluded that they represented fragments and subunits. The results interpreted in this study indicate that the urine samples of calves after colostrum intake have at least 2 proteins which could not be found in the blood sera.