Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T11:39:27.972Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effects of underfeeding during pregnancy and lactation on structure and chemistry of bovine liver and muscle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

I. M. Reid
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Institute for Research on Animal DiseasesComptonNr. Newbury, Berkshire, RG16 ONN
C. J. Roberts
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Institute for Research on Animal DiseasesComptonNr. Newbury, Berkshire, RG16 ONN
G. D. Baird
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Institute for Research on Animal DiseasesComptonNr. Newbury, Berkshire, RG16 ONN

Summary

An experiment was carried out to study the effects of underfeeding during late pregnancy and early lactation on the structure and chemistry of liver and muscle of dairy cows. Two groups of cattle were fed at 60 and 40% of estimated requirements for maintenance and pregnancy or lactation for 13 weeks before and 13 weeks after calving, and one group was fed at maintenance level only for the same period. A control group was fed at 100% of estimated requirements for the same period. All groups were subsequently fed at the control level for a further 24 weeks.

Underfeeding resulted in significant changes in muscle and liver of dairy cows. In particular, there was a decrease in liver cell volume in the underfed groups and a persistence of post-parturient fat in the moderately underfed cows. Muscle fibre diameter was reduced and there was a loss of fast twitch oxidative glycolytic fibres in the underfed cows.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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

Baird, G. D., Heitzman, R. J., Reid, I. M., Symonds, H. W. & Lomax, M. (1979). Effects of food deprivation on ketonaemia, ketogenesis and hepatic intermediary metabolism in the non-lactating dairy cow. Biochemical Journal 178, 3544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradley, R. (1978). Skeletal muscle biopsy techniques in animals for histochemical and ultrastructural examination, and especially for the diagnosis of myodegeneration in cattle. British Veterinary Journal 134, 434444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brixova, E. & Dzurikova, V. (1972). Determination of glycogen, lipids and proteins in hepatic needle biopsy. Clinica Chimica Acta 36, 543548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brumby, P. E., Anderson, M., Tuckley, B., Storry, J. E. & Hibbitt, K. G. (1975). Lipid metabolism in the cow during starvation-induced ketosis. Biochemical Journal 146, 609615.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Desai, I. D. (1969). Regulation of lysosomal enzymes. I. Adaptive changes in enzyme activities during starvation and refeeding. Canadian Journal of Biochemistry, 47, 785790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubowitz, V. & Brooke, M. H. (1973). Muscle Biopsy: A Modern Approach. London: W. B. Saunders.Google Scholar
Eggstein, M. & Kuhlmann, E. (1974). In Methods of Enzymatic Analysis (ed. Bergemeyer, H.U.) 2nd English Edition, vol. 4, pp. 18251831. New York and London: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filkins, J. P. (1970). Lysosomes and hepatic regression during fasting. American Journal of Physiology 219, 923927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ford, E. J. H. (1959). Metabolic changes in cattle near the time of parturition. I. Hepatic fat and alkaline phosphatase activity of liver homogenates. Journal of Comparative Pathology 69, 2028.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katz, M. L. & Bergman, E. N. (1969). Hepatic and portal metabolism of glucose, free fatty acids and ketone bodies in sheep. American Journal of Physiology 216, 953960.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peter, J. B., Barnard, R. J., Edgerton, V. R., Gillespie, C. A. & Stempel, K. E. (1972). Metabolic profiles of three types of skeletal muscle in guinea pigs and rabbits. Biochemistry 11, 26272633.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, I. M., Baird, G. D. & Heitzman, R. J. (1977). Effects of fasting in non-lactating cows. A correlated biochemical and stereological study of fastinginduced fatty liver. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 89, 319325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, I. M., Harrison, R. D. & Collins, R. A. (1977). Fasting and refeeding in the lactating dairy cow. 2. The recovery of liver cell structure and function following a six-day fast. Journal of Comparative Pathology 87, 253265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reid, I. M., Roberts, C. J. & Manston, R. (1979). Fatty liver and infertility in high-yielding dairy cows. Veterinary Record 104, 75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, C. J., Reid, I. M., Dew, S. M., Stark, A. J., Baird, G. D., Collins, R. & Mather, D. (1978). The effects of underfeeding for 6 months during pregnancy and lactation on blood constituents, milk yield and body weight of dairy cows. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 90, 383394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, W. C. (1957). Determination of nucleic acids in tissues by pentose analysis. In Methods in Enzymology (ed. Colowick, S. P. and Kaplan, N. O.), vol. 3, pp. 680684. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Yeates, N. T. M. (1964). Starvation changes and subsequent recovery of adult beef muscle. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 62, 267272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar