Cow mastitis is a common and frequent dairy cow mammary gland disease in my country. Its etiology is complex and diverse and spreads widely. It not only affects the milk production of dairy cows, but also reduces milk quality and even brings risks to human health, which greatly limits the development of the dairy industry. . Mastitis can cause a severe inflammatory response in breast tissue, resulting in pathological damage to breast tissue.

At present, the clinical treatment of cow mastitis is mainly antibiotics, but antibiotics mainly play a bactericidal effect and cannot relieve the inflammatory response of the mammary gland. Some studies have found that antibiotics combined with anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of mastitis can effectively shorten the treatment cycle and reduce the use of antibiotics, thereby reducing production costs and increasing economic benefits. However, there are few types of anti-inflammatory drugs in the clinical treatment process, so it is of great significance to find a green, safe, and anti-inflammatory natural products for the treatment of dairy cow mastitis. Menthol is a cyclic terpenoid extracted from mint stems and leaves, which is widely used in the medical industry and daily life. Menthol is one of the main active components of peppermint, which has various biological activities such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. However, the application of menthol in the treatment of cow mastitis has not been reported yet.

In order to further verify the role of menthol in the clinical treatment of mastitis, the study screened dairy cows with mastitis caused by Escherichia coli infection, through the use of topical menthol ointment combined with an antibiotic treatment strategy, continuous treatment for 7 days, peripheral blood and milk were collected, and detected. The pro-inflammatory mediators in serum and whey and the number of somatic cells in milk were analyzed to analyze the therapeutic effect of menthol on mastitis. The results showed that the expression levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in whey and serum and the number of somatic cells in milk were significantly decreased in the combined menthol treatment group, which were lower than those in the antibiotic treatment group alone. These data suggest that menthol has an adjunctive therapeutic effect on cow mastitis. The above results show that mastitis caused by Escherichia coli, Streptococcus agalactiae and Staphylococcus aureus is relatively common in Jilin Province, and mastitis caused by Escherichia coli is the most common pathogenic bacteria found in this study. In addition, menthol can activate autophagy through AMPK and its downstream autophagy-related pathways, thereby exerting anti-inflammatory effects. The results of clinical trials showed that antibiotics combined with menthol can effectively alleviate the inflammatory response of the breast and reduce the number of somatic cells, providing a reference for the clinical treatment of mastitis.