Effect of crofelemer extract on severity and consistency of experimentally induced enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhea in newborn Holstein calves

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a standardized botanical extract of Croton lechleri, named crofelemer extract, on fecal dry matter and fecal scores on diarrheic newborn Holstein bull calves induced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. A double-blinded randomized clinical trial was performed in which 60 newborn Holstein bull calves were clean caught and transported to an isolation facility where calves were individually housed and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: placebo (control), enteric-coated formulation of crofelemer extract (ECROF), and nonenteric-coated formulation of crofelemer extract (CROF). Diarrhea was induced at first feeding with an inoculum of the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ATCC 31616) administered with a third of the recommended dose of a colostrum replacer. All calves enrolled in this study received treatments starting on the second feeding (diarrhea onset) and treatments were administered before feeding time (0600 and 1600 h) for 6 feedings consecutively. All calves in this study had failure of passive transfer. The only cause of death in this study was due to septicemia, accounting for 1 death out of each treatment group. All the calves were examined twice daily, within 2 h after feeding, from d 1 (prechallenge) until 10, on d 15, and a last examination on d 25 of life. Five parameters were evaluated during each examination; rectal temperature, clinical assessment of dehydration status, fecal scores, attitude, and appetite. No differences were observed between treatment groups for rectal temperature, attitude, and appetite. Fecal dry matter was analyzed as prechallenge fecal dry matter, dry matter during treatment, and fecal dry matter after treatment cessation. No difference in prechallenge fecal dry matter was observed and prechallenge fecal dry matter was used as a covariate in the models. Fecal dry matter during treatment was significantly higher for ECROF calves when compared with control calves and CROF calves. Additionally, ECROF fecal dry matter after treatment cessation had a statistical tendency to be higher when compared with control calves. Together, these results suggest that enteric-coated formulation of the standardized crofelemer extract, a natural-product with antisecretory properties, can significantly increase fecal dry matter of neonatal calves with experimentally induced enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhea. More research is needed to test the efficacy of enteric-coated crofelemer on incidence and severity of secretory diarrhea on calves under natural challenge conditions.