Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T19:59:58.788Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Thyroid hormones, blood plasma metabolites and haematological parameters in relationship to milk yield in dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. W. Blum ,
P. Kunz ,
H. Leuenberger ,
K. Gautschi  and
M. Keller
J. W. Blum
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich
P. Kunz
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich
H. Leuenberger
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich
K. Gautschi
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital, 8091 Zürich
M. Keller
Affiliation:
F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Diagnostica, 4133 Schweizerhalle, Switzerland
Get access

Abstract

To study their relationship to milk yield, the concentrations, in jugular venous blood, of thyroxine iodine (T4I), thyroxine (T4), 3,5,3'-tri-iodothyronine (T3), glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), triglycerides, phospholipids, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, urea, haemoglobin and packed cell volume (PCV) have been measured in 36 cows (Simmental, Swiss Brown, Holstein and Simmental × Holstein) of different ages during a full lactation, pregnancy, dry period, parturition and 150 days of the ensuing lactation. Thyroid hormones and triglycerides were negatively, and total protein, globulin, cholesterol and phospholipids were positively, correlated with uncorrected or corrected milk yield during several periods of lactation, whereas glucose, NEFA, albumin, urea, haemoglobin and packed cell volume were not correlated with milk yield. The 10 animals with the highest milk yield (18·9 to 23·5 kg/day) exhibited significantly lower values of T4I, T4, T3 and glucose, significantly higher levels of total protein and globulin and tended to have higher levels of NEFA than the 10 cows with the lowest milk yield (10·9 to 14·3 kg/day) throughout or during certain periods of lactation, whereas concentrations of triglycerides, phospholipids, cholesterol, albumin, haemoglobin and PCV did not differ. Changes in T4I, T4, T3, glucose and total protein during lactation were also influenced by age, presumably associated with an increase in milk production with age. T3 was consistently lowest and cholesterol and phospholipids, during later stages of lactation, were highest in Holsteins, which had the highest milk yields of all breeds. Changes of blood parameters were mainly caused by shifts in energy and protein metabolism in association with level of milk production

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , February 1983 , pp. 93 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, R. R. 1971. Secretion rates of thyroxine and triiodothyronine in dairy cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 54: 1195–1199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bickerstaffe, R., Annison, E. F. and Linzell, J. L. 1974. The metabolism of glucose, acetate, lipids and amino acids in lactating dairy cows. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 82: 71–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bines, J. A. 1976. Regulation of food intake in dairy cows in relation to milk production. Livest. Prod. Sci. 3: 115–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blum, J. W., Gingins, M., Vitins, P. and Bickel, H. 1980. Thyroid hormone levels related to energy and nitrogen balance during weight loss and regain in adult sheep. Actaendocr. Copnh. 93: 440–447.Google ScholarPubMed
Blum, J. W. and Kunz, P. 1981. Effects of fasting on thyroid hormone levels and kinetics of reverse triiodothyronine in cattle. Ada endocr. Copnh. 98: 234–239.Google ScholarPubMed
Blum, J. W., Kunz, P., Schnyder, W., Thomson, E. F., Vitins, P., Blom, A. and Bickel, H. 1979. Changes of hormones and metabolites during reduced and compensatory growth of steers. Annls. Rech. Vét. 10: 391–392.Google ScholarPubMed
Cappa, V. and Bertoni, G. 1971. [Variations in protein-bound iodine levels in cattle during lactation.] Folia vet. lat. 1: 552–559.Google Scholar
Clark, J. H., Spires, H. R. and Davis, C. L. 1978. Uptake and metabolism of nitrogenous components by the lactating mammary gland. Fedn. Proc. 37: 1233–1238.Google Scholar
Doumas, B. T., Watson, W. A. and Biggs, H. G. 1971. Albumin standards and the measurement of serum albumin with bromcresol green. Clinica chim. Acta 31: 87–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emery, R. S. and Williams, J. A. 1964. Incidence of ketosis. other diseases and some postpartum reproductive ailments in normal and triiodothyronine-treated cows. J. Dairy Sci. 47: 879–881.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grigsby, J. S., Oxender, W. D., Hafs, H. D., Britt, D. G. and Merkel, R. A. 1974. Serum insulin, glucose and free fatty acids in the cow and fetus during gestation. Proc. Soc. exp. Biol. Med. 147: 830–834.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, I. C., Bines, J. A. and Morant, S. V. 1979. Endocrine control of energy metabolism in the cow: correlations of hormones and metabolites in high and low yielding cows for stages of lactation. J. Dairy Sci. 62: 270–277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, I. C., Bines, J. A., Morant, S. V. and Ridley, J. L. 1978a. Endocrine control of energy metabolism in the cow: comparison of the levels of hormones (prolactin, growth hormone, insulin and thyroxine) and metabolites in the plasma of high- and low-yielding cattle at various stages of lactation. J. Endocr. 77: 333–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, I. C., Bines, J. A., Roy, J. H. B. and Morant, S. V. 1978b. Plasma thyroxine and free thyroxine index in highand low-yielding cattle and in calves of different breeds. J. Endocr. 80: 52P.Google Scholar
Heitzman, R. J. and Mallinson, C. B. 1972. A comparison of thyroxine levels in the plasma of healthy, starved and acetonemic dairy cows. Res. vet. Sci. 13: 591–593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henricson, B., Jönsson, G. and Pehrson, B. 1977. “Lipid pattern“, glucose concentration, and ketone body level in the blood of cattle. Variations with age, stage of lactation, and between groups of half-sisters. Zentbl. VetMed. A. 24: 89–102.Google ScholarPubMed
Hibbitt, K. G. and Baird, G. D. 1967. An induced ketosis and its role in the study of primary spontaneous bovine acetonaemia. Vet. Rec. 81: 511–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoeflmayr, J. and Fried, R. 1966. [A method for routine determination of lipid phosphorus and of phosphatides]. Medizin Ernáhr. 7: 9–10.Google Scholar
Kitchenham, Barbara A. and Rowlands, G. J. 1976. Differences in the concentrations of certain blood constituents among cows in a dairy herd. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 86: 171–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunz, P. and Blum, J. W. 1981. Effect of pre- and postparturient energy intake on blood plasma levels of hormones and metabolites. In Metabolic Disorders in Farm Animals. Proc. 4th int. Conf. on Production Disease in Farm Animals. pp. 49–54. Institut für Physiologic Physiologische Chemie und Ernährungsphysiologie, Tierärztliche Fakultät der Universität München.Google Scholar
Little, W. 1974. An effect of the stage of lactation on the concentration of albumin in the serum of dairy cows. Res. vet. Sci. 17: 193–199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mixner, J. P., Kramer, D. H. and Szabo, K.-T. 1962. Effects of breed, stage of lactation and season of year on thyroid secretion rate of dairy cows as determined by the chemical thyroxine turnover method. J. Dairy Sci. 45: 999–1002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metz, S. H. M. and van den Bergh, S. G. 1977. Regulation of fat mobilization in adipose tissue of dairy cows in the period around parturition. Neth. J. agric. Sci. 25: 198–211.Google Scholar
Oldham, J. D., Broster, W. H., Napper, D. J. and Siviter, J. W. 1979. The effect of a low-protein ration on milk yield and plasma metabolites in Friesian heifers during early lactation. Br. J. Nutr. 42: 149–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmquist, D. L. 1976. A kinetic concept of lipid transport in ruminants. A review. J. Dairy Sci. 59: 355–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, B. N. J. 1977. Plasma glucose and non-esterified fatty acids in relation to dietary energy in the dairy cow. In Proc. 3rd int. Conf. on Production Disease in Farm Animals, pp. 34–36. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen.Google Scholar
Payne, J. M., Dew, S. M., Manston, R. and Faulks, M. 1970. The use of a metabolic profile test in dairy herds. Vet. Rec. 87: 150–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pehrson, B. 1971. Studies of the blood lipid pattern in healthy dairy cows. Ada vet. scand. 12: 230–242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenmund, H. and Schneider, F. 1974. [The determination of protein-bound iodine in cattle]. Zentbl. VetMed. A 21: 142–148.Google ScholarPubMed
Schwalm, J. W. and Schultz, L. H. 1976. Relationship of insulin concentration to blood metabolites in the dairy cow. J. Dairy Sci. 59: 255–261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stirnimann, J., Stämpfli, G. and Gerber, H. 1974. [Blood serum iron and copper concentration and red cell parameters in Simmental cows during pregnancy and puerperal period/. Schweizer. Arch. Tierheilk. 116: 231–243.Google Scholar
Vanjonack, W. J. and Johnson, H. D. 1975. Effects of moderate heat and milk yield on plasma thyroxine in cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 58: 505–511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varman, P. N. and Schultz, L. H. 1968. Blood lipids of cows at different stages of lactation. J. Dairy Sci. 51: 1971–1974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walsh, D. S., Veseley, J. A. and Mahadevan, S. 1980. Relationship between milk production and circulating hormones in dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 63: 290–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitlock, R. H., Little, W. and Rowlands, G. J. 1974. The incidence of anaemia in dairy cows in relation to season, milk yield and age. Res. vet. Sci. 16: 122–124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed