Abstract

The objectives of study were to examine whether probiotic therapy is alternative to antibiotic therapy in diarrheic calves, and to examine whether the serum diamine oxidase (DAO) activity in calves are related to diarrhea. Twenty-two diarrheic Japanese black calves were received probiotics (n=11) or antibiotics (n=11) therapy for up to 8 days from the initial examination, respectively. There was no significant difference between treatments in the variations of fecal score and serum biochemical value. Serum DAO activity increased significantly in only probiotic treatment, from 64.4 +/- 7.2 on day 1 to 76.3 +/- 5.1 IU/ml on day 8. Our results suggested that probiotics therapy could be alternative to antibiotic therapy, and could be affecting serum DAO activity in diarrheic calves.