Associations Between Microscopic Balantioides coli Counts and Precision Dairy-Farming Indicators in Clinically Healthy Dairy Cows.
- 1Large Animal Clinic, Veterinary Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT-47181 Kaunas, Lithuania.
- 2Department of Animal Breeding, Faculty of Animal Sciences, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT-47181 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Abstract
Balantioides coli is an enteric ciliated protozoan detected in cattle, but the association between microscopic B. coli counts and precision dairy-farming indicators remains poorly understood. This cross-sectional study evaluated associations between microscopic B. coli counts and behavioral, production and milk-composition traits in 83 clinically healthy Holstein cows in parity 2-4 and 20-100 days in milk. Fecal samples were examinated using sedimentation and modified McMaster methods and abundance was expressed as microscopic counts per field of view. Automated farm systems provided eating and rumination times, daily milk yield, milk fat-to-protein ratio, lactose concentration and somatic cell count. Zero-order correlations between microscopic B. coli counts and all evaluated indicators were weak and non-significant (r = 0.027-0.190). After adjustment for parity and days in milk, a modest positive correlation was observed with lactose concentration (partial r = 0.296, p = 0.007). The remaining adjusted correlations were weak or negligible and statistically non-significant: eating time (r = 0.105), rumination time (r = 0.036), daily milk yield (r = 0.060), milk fat-to-protein ratio (r = 0.064) and log10-transformed somatic cell count (r = 0.015). Overall, microscopic B. coli abundance showed limited association with the evaluated indicators, and the lactose finding should be regarded as exploratory.
Related
- Green Leaves, Red Flags: Host Plant Associations as Indicators of Prey Defense for an Avian Predator
- Flood-driven hydraulic-habitat indicators reveal geomorphic associations and functional complementarity across Contrasting River morphologies
- From Microbiome Associations to Deployable Precision Probiotics in Animals: A Critical Narrative Review and Proposed Causal Evidence Framework for Next-Generation Probiotic Development
- Fluorescence microscopic evidence for intracellular silicon storage pools in diatoms and their partial separation
- Multiplex-GCN Predicts Clinically Actionable Tumor Microenvironment Subtypes in Pancreatic Cancer
BibTeX
@article{lemboviciutė2026associations,
title = {{Associations Between Microscopic Balantioides coli Counts and Precision Dairy-Farming Indicators in Clinically Healthy Dairy Cows.}},
author = {Gabija Lembovičiūtė and Greta Šertvytytė and Justina Krištolaitytė and Karina Džermeikaitė and Ieva Rodaitė and Eimantas Ginkus and Lina Anskienė and Inga Sabeckienė and Samanta Grigė and Akvilė Girdauskaitė and Ramūnas Antanaitis},
journal = {Veterinary sciences},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/vetsci13101014},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42944110},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Associations Between Microscopic Balantioides coli Counts and Precision Dairy-Farming Indicators in Clinically Healthy Dairy Cows.
AU - Gabija Lembovičiūtė
AU - Greta Šertvytytė
AU - Justina Krištolaitytė
AU - Karina Džermeikaitė
AU - Ieva Rodaitė
AU - Eimantas Ginkus
AU - Lina Anskienė
AU - Inga Sabeckienė
AU - Samanta Grigė
AU - Akvilė Girdauskaitė
AU - Ramūnas Antanaitis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
JO - Veterinary sciences
DO - 10.3390/vetsci13101014
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42944110
AB - Balantioides coli is an enteric ciliated protozoan detected in cattle, but the association between microscopic B. coli counts and precision dairy-farming indicators remains poorly understood. This cross-sectional study evaluated associations between microscopic B. coli counts and behavioral, production and milk-composition traits in 83 clinically healthy Holstein cows in parity 2-4 and 20-100 days in milk. Fecal samples were examinated using sedimentation and modified McMaster methods and abundance was expressed as microscopic counts per field of view. Automated farm systems provided eating and rumination times, daily milk yield, milk fat-to-protein ratio, lactose concentration and somatic cell count. Zero-order correlations between microscopic B. coli counts and all evaluated indicators were weak and non-significant (r = 0.027-0.190). After adjustment for parity and days in milk, a modest positive correlation was observed with lactose concentration (partial r = 0.296, p = 0.007). The remaining adjusted correlations were weak or negligible and statistically non-significant: eating time (r = 0.105), rumination time (r = 0.036), daily milk yield (r = 0.060), milk fat-to-protein ratio (r = 0.064) and log10-transformed somatic cell count (r = 0.015). Overall, microscopic B. coli abundance showed limited association with the evaluated indicators, and the lactose finding should be regarded as exploratory.
SN - 2306-7381
ER -