Continuous activation of the IL-17F driven inflammatory pathway in acute and chronic digital dermatitis lesions in dairy cattle

Objectives of the present study were to get a deeper insight into the course of the inflammatory pathways of digital dermatitis lesions in dairy cattle by investigating the gene expression patterns throughout the different clinical stages (M0 to M4.1) of the disease. Normal skin samples (M0) were used as a reference for comparing the gene expression levels in the other M-stages through RNA Seq-technology. 22 skin samples were obtained from 5 different M stages (M1, M2, M3, M4, M4.1) on 6 dairy farms with Holstein-Friesian cows. Five M0 samples and two M1 samples were harvested from Holstein-Friesian cattle postmortem at the local slaughterhouse.