The Regulation of Feed Intake as Part of Energy Homeostasis in Periparturient High Yielding Dairy Cows
Final Report Abstract
In the project, using indirect calorimetry, we measured the energy balance (EB) of pregnant and lactating high yielding dairy cows (EBexp) and compared obtained values with those estimated by usual equations (EBest). We were able to demonstrate marked differences between EBexp and EBest showing overestimation of EB in pregnant and underestimation of the negative EB in lactating dairy cows. We discuss that the factor currently used to calculate the maintenance requirement for pregnant and lactating milk cows underestimates the animal needs. As far as we know such data have not been published until know. We hope that our data will encourage further experimental work on this problem. More data with high yielding dairy cows has to be created and are needed to optimize and eventually standardize the models and equations used to predict energy requirements of these animals.
In high performance dairy cows, dietary intake is unable to meet the demands of high milk production in particular during early lactation. Cows enter a period of negative energy balance and experience metabolic stress that is linked to reduced immune function and increased health problems. Therefore, predictive markers as a tool to identify animals at risk and to select animals having a high adaptability and robustness are urgently needed. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) with its sympathetic and parasympathetic branches is known to play a predominant role in adaption to inadequate energy and/or fuel availability and mediation of the stress response. Therefore, we hypothesized that indices of heart rate variability (HRV) that reflect ANS activity and sympatho-vagal balance could be early markers of metabolic stress, and possibly useful to predict cows with compromised regulatory capacity. However, as far as we know, no information was available on changes of sympathetic and, in particular, of parasympathetic activity pattern in pregnant, high-yielding dairy cows experiencing a defined metabolic load.
Therefore, we investigated the autonomic regulation and stress level of ad libitum fed and fasting cows by measuring a wide range of HRV parameters, and also heat production, energy balance, feed intake, rumen fermentative activity, physical activity, non-esterified fatty acids, β-hydroxybutyric acid, cortisol, and total ghrelin plasma concentrations, and body temperature (BT). In a first step, cows that react to food removal with increased (normal response) or decreased activity of the parasympathetic branch of the ANS could be identified by individual analysis of frequency domain parameters of HRV. Regression analysis reveals that under control conditions (food ad libitum) group differences were best predicted by the nonlinear domain HRV component Maxline (LMAX, R2 = 0.76, threshold; TS = 258). Compared with cows having LMAX values above TS (>LMAX), those with LMAX values below TS (
Publications
- (2012) Increased anaplerosis, TCA cycling and oxidative phosphorylation in the liver of dairy cows with intensive body fat mobilization during early lactation. J Proteome Res 11:5503-5514
Schäff C, Börner S, Hacke S, Kautzsch U, Albrecht D, Hammon HM, Röntgen M, Kuhla B
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1021/pr300732n) - (2013) Fuel feeds function: Energy balance and bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cell activation. Comp Biochem Physiol A 164: 101-110
Schwarm A, Viergutz T, Kuhla B, Hammon HM, Röntgen M
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.10.009) - (2013) Increased muscle fatty acid oxidation in dairy cows with intensive body fat mobilization during early lactation. J Dairy Sci 96:6449-6460
Schäff C, Börner S, Hacke S, Kautzsch U, Sauerwein H, Spachmann SK, Schweigel-Röntgen M, Hammon HM, Kuhla B
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2013-6812) - (2013) Peripartal energy balance and peripheral blood mononuclear cell activation in normal and high mobilizing dairy cows. In: Oltjen JW, Kebreab E, Lapierre H. (eds.) Energy and protein metabolism and nutrition in sustainable animal production. EAAP publication 134: 365-366
Schwarm A, Viergutz T, Kuhla B, Hammon HM, Röntgen M
- (2013) Periprandial methane production in late pregnant and early lactating German Holstein cows. Adv Anim Biosci 4: 374
Derno M, Mohr E, Hammon HM, Röntgen M, Metges CC, Kuhla B
- (2013) Plasma ghrelin is positively associated with body fat, liver fat and milk fat content but not with feed intake of dairy cows after parturition. J Endocrinol 216: 217-229
Börner S, Derno M, Hacke S, Kautzsch U, Schäff Chr, Than ST, Kuwayama H, Hammon HM, Röntgen M, Weikard R, Kühn Chr, Tuchscherer A, Kuhla B
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-12-0384) - (2013) Reduced AgRP activation in the hypothalamus of cows with high extent of fat mobilization after parturition. Gen Comp Endocr 193C:167-177
Börner S, Albrecht E, Schäff C, Hacke S, Kautzsch U, Derno M, Hammon HM, Röntgen M, Sauerwein H, Kuhla B
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.08.002) - (2016) Insulin-dependent glucose metabolism in dairy cows with variable fat mobilization around calving. J Dairy Sci 99:6665-6679
Weber C, Schäff CT, Kautzsch U, Börner S, Erdmann S, Görs S, Röntgen M, Sauerwein H, Bruckmaier RM, Metges CC, Kuhla B, Hammon HM
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2016-11022) - (2017) Short communication: Free fatty acid receptors FFAR1 and FFAR2 during the peripartal period in liver of dairy cows which were grouped by their plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations postpartum. J Dairy Sci 100:3287-3292
Aguinaga Casañas MA, Schäff CT, Albrecht E, Hammon HM, Kuhla B, Röntgen M, Nürnberg G, Mielenz M
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2016-11021) - (2017) Variable liver fat concentration as a proxy of body fat mobilization postpartum has minor effects on the insulin induced changes of hepatic gene expression related to energy metabolism in dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 100:1507-1520
Weber C, Schäff, CT, Kautzsch U, Börner S, Erdmann S, Bruckmaier RM, Röntgen M, Kuhla B, Hammon HM
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2016-11808)
