Potential of immunization for increasing animal production

Abstract

The use of exogenous hormone treatment as a means of increasing the efficiency of animal production has, in general, been rather poorly received by both the public and government agencies. This antipathy towards hormone treatment has tended to direct research effort into finding less contentious ‘hormonefree’ methods of improving animal production. Over the last 10 years, immunological manipulation of the endocrine system has emerged as an attractive possibility in this search. In this review we briefly outline three approaches under current consideration, whereby growth hormone (GH) concentrations or activity are modified. These methods involve immunological manipulation of GH release, use of antibodies as GH mimics and antibody-mediated enhancement of GH action.