A 100-Year Review: Metabolic health indicators and management of dairy cattle

Abstract

Our aim in this Journal of Dairy Science centennial review is to describe the evolution of focus on metabolic indicators, from discovery and description to evaluation at the individual cow and subsequently herd levels, over the past 100 yr. Furthermore, we discuss current and future technologies that will be used in the dairy industry to utilize these indicators widely going forward. Knowledge of chemical changes in various fluids (e.g., blood, urine, and milk) accompanying numerous metabolic disease states in the dairy cow has existed since almost the beginning of the Journal of Dairy Science 100 yr ago. However, only during the last 25 yr have these metabolic indicators been developed into useful tools for cow- and herd-level monitoring for disease and management. From the 1920s through the 1940s, our understanding of the changes in blood chemistry accompanying milk fever and ketosis increased, as did our understanding of the underlying biology. In the 1950s and 1960s, workers studying ketosis and energy metabolism began to evaluate changes in lipid metabolism reflected by concentrations of circulating nonesterified fatty acids; furthermore, initial development occurred for on-farm tests of milk ketones. During the 1970s, blood metabolic profiling was applied to dairy farms but found to be of varied and limited usefulness. The turning point occurred when large epidemiologic studies of periparturient cow disease were pioneered in the United States, Canada, and Europe in the 1980s; these studies further solidified our understanding of risk factors and epidemiological interrelationships among disease, production, and reproduction. In the early 1990s, scientists first incorporated indicators of metabolic health into large observational studies and determined important epidemiological relationships between these indicators and outcomes of interest. This field of study blossomed during the 2000s as several research groups conducted multiple investigations into metabolic indicators related to energy metabolism and began to develop cow-level thresholds and herd-level alarms for use in monitoring and management. This work was accompanied by additional studies to validate point-of-care instruments that could be used to implement these strategies at the cow and herd levels. Work in the 2000s continued to identify and evaluate other physiological indicators of inflammation and oxidative stress; however, these have yet to be incorporated into large-scale cohort studies. Finally, use of technology (e.g., activity monitoring, cow-monitoring collars and tags, milk-based analysis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) continues to receive significant attention going forward to eventually allow for real-time and automatic monitoring of metabolic indicators and improved health and herd management on dairy farms.

Effects of timing of palmitic acid supplementation during early lactation on nutrient digestibility, energy balance, and metabolism of dairy cows

“…We observed that PA increased BHB concentrations during the first week after calving compared with CON. Plasma BHB concentrations of 10 to 14 mg/dL have been suggested as cut-off points for increased risk of metabolic disorders (Ospina et al, 2013;Overton et al, 2017). Furthermore, Ospina et al (2010) reported that cows with BHB concentrations >10 mg/dL between 3 and 14 d postpartum had >4 times higher risk of postpartum diseases (e.g., displaced abomasum, metritis, clinical ketosis) and were >15% less likely to be pregnant after the voluntary waiting period (by 70 d).…”

Genetic variation in serum protein pattern and blood β-hydroxybutyrate and their relationships with udder health traits, protein profile, and cheese-making properties in Holstein cows

“…They can be separated into 4 fractions by electrophoresis: α 1 -, α 2 -, β-, and γ-globulins (Busher, 1990). Physiological and pathological conditions can trigger changes in albumin and globulin concentrations (Alberghina et al, 2010;Overton et al, 2017), which can also be indicators of mammary gland inflammation (Bobbo et al, 2017a,b). In clinical practice, A:G may be useful in identifying endometritis and dysproteinemias (Kaneko et al, 2008;Overton et al, 2017).…”

Digestive parameters during gestation of Holstein heifers

“…The values found for nonesterified fatty acids reached 0.34 mmol/L. According to Overton [33], levels above 0.5 mmol/L in the prepartum period indicate a greater probability of developing some metabolic disease. Thus, the heifers in the present study with an average daily gain approximately of 1.0 kg are unlikely to present metabolic problems due to the low levels of β-hidroxibutirate and nonesterified fatty acids.…”

“…Considering the concentration of metabolites in dairy cows, studies using lactating cows have been carried out and limits of several metabolites have been established [33, 34, 35]. However, according to Briscic [36], reference values for heifers at the end of gestation have not been studied.…”