Expression of the lingual antimicrobial peptide (LAP) in the bovine mammary gland with Staphylococcus aureus

Mastitis is one of the most important infectious diseases in dairy cows around the world that causes great economic loses. To prevent and treat mastitis is important to understand the immunology of the mammary gland. Mammalian β -defensins are peptides of the local innate host defense with a potential as therapeutic agents. With the aim to better understand the role of these local antimicrobial peptides in the prevention of bovine mastitis, in the present study the mRNA expression of the lingual antimicrobial peptide ( LAP )was determinedin 5 localizations of the bovine mammary gland with mastitis applying a quantitative real time PCR. The results showed that LAP was mainly expressed in the cisternal tissue with an average of 1.36 7 x 10 copies of mRNA, followed by 9.7 x 10 6 copies in parenchyma, and the lowest expression was obtained streak canal. Therefore, LAP could be involved in the local defense of the mammary gland since is overexpressed in these regions where S. aureus mainly invades and multiplies.