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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Lactation-induced changes in metabolic status and follicular-fluid metabolomic profile in postpartum dairy cows

Niamh Forde A D , Aoife O’Gorman A B , Helena Whelan A B , Pat Duffy A , Lydia O’Hara A , Alan K. Kelly A , Vitezslav Havlicek C , Urban Besenfelder C , Lorraine Brennan A B and Pat Lonergan A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

B Institute of Food and Health, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

C Reproduction Centre – Wieselburg, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210, Austria.

D Corresponding author. Email: niamh.forde@ucd.ie

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 28(12) 1882-1892 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD14348
Submitted: 17 September 2014  Accepted: 14 May 2015   Published: 15 June 2015

Abstract

The aim was to investigate the effect of lactation on the composition of pre-ovulatory follicular fluid (FF). Forty in-calf primiparous heifers and 20 maiden heifers were enrolled. Immediately after calving, half of the cows were dried off while the remainder were milked twice daily. Serum samples were collected twice weekly from two weeks pre- to 84 days postpartum (dpp). FF was analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Serum concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyrate were higher, while glucose, insulin and Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) concentrations were lower in lactating cows compared with non-lactating cows and heifers (P < 0.01). Principal component analysis of FF metabolites revealed a clear separation of the lactating group from both non-lactating cows and heifers. The amino acids tyrosine, phenylalanine and valine and fatty acids heneicosanoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid were all lower in FF from lactating compared with dry cows (P < 0.05). FF from lactating cows was higher in aminoadipic acid, α-aminobutyric acid, glycine and serine while histidine, leucine, lysine, methionine and ornithine were all lower than in dry cows and heifers (P < 0.05). The ratio of n6 : n3 was higher in lactating cows compared with both non-lactating cows and heifers, whereas total n3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, pentadecanoic, linolenic, elaidic and arachidonic acids were all lower in the FF of lactating cows than both non-lactating cows and heifers (P < 0.05). In conclusion, lactation induces distinct changes in the overall metabolic status of postpartum lactating dairy cows which are associated with divergent metabolite profiles in FF.

Additional keywords: amino acids, diary heifers, fatty acids, non-lactating dairy cows, pre-ovulatory follicle.


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