Assessment of daily activity patterns and biomarkers of pain, inflammation, and stress in lactating dairy cows diagnosed with clinical metritis

Abstract

The objectives of the present case-control study were to assess (1) daily activity patterns (lying time, number of steps, number of lying bouts, and lying bout duration), and (2) circulating concentrations of biomarkers of pain (substance P), inflammation (haptoglobin), and stress (cortisol) in lactating dairy cows diagnosed with clinical metritis. Lactating dairy cows (n = 200) from 2 commercial dairy herds were enrolled in the present study. Cows diagnosed with clinical metritis (n = 100) at 7 ± 3 d in milk were matched according to lactation and days in milk to cows without clinical metritis (NO-CM; n = 100). On study d 1, clinical metritis was diagnosed (using a Metricheck device, Simcro Tech Ltd., Hamilton, New Zealand) by the presence of watery, reddish, or brownish foul-smelling vaginal discharge, and blood samples were collected for assessment of circulating concentration of substance P, haptoglobin, cortisol, total calcium, β-hydroxybutyrate, and blood cells. In addition, on study d 1 body condition of cows was visually assessed, and activity monitors were placed on the hind leg of a subset of cows (CM, n = 56; CON, n = 56) and were kept until study d 7. Cows showing any other signs of other diseases were not included in the study. Cows with clinical metritis tended to spend more time lying (CM = 628.92 min/d; NO-CM = 591.23 min/d) compared with NO-CM cows. Activity analysis by parity revealed that primiparous cows with clinical metritis spent more time lying compared with primiparous cows without clinical metritis. However, no differences in daily lying time were observed between multiparous cows with and without clinical metritis. Furthermore, cows in the CM group had a higher circulating concentration of substance P (CM = 47.15 pg/mL; NO-CM = 37.73 pg/mL) and haptoglobin (CM = 233.00 µg/mL; NO-CM = 99.98 µg/mL) when compared with NO-CM cows. Cows with clinical metritis had lower body condition score, and a greater proportion of cows in this group had hypocalcemia when compared with cows without clinical metritis. The circulating concentration of leukocytes and erythrocytes were decreased in cows with clinical metritis compared with cows without clinical metritis. Results from this study showed that concentrations of markers of inflammation, stress, pain, and activity were affected in cows diagnosed with clinical metritis; thus, strategies aimed to minimize the negative effects associated with clinical metritis may be required to improve the welfare of dairy cows.

Associations of pre- and postpartum lying time with metabolic, inflammation, and health status of lactating dairy cows

“…Regardless of health status, primiparous cows experience a greater inflammatory response than multiparous cows during the early postpartum (Humblet et al, 2006). In addition, previous research showed that primiparous cows experiencing metritis have increased lying time compared with nondiseased cows, but no differences were observed in multiparous cows, suggesting more expression of the sickness behavior in primiparous cows (Barragan et al, 2018). It is possible that primiparous cows have an exacerbated inflammatory response shortly after calving due to their first contact with antigens and, as they mature, they develop a more efficient immune response.…”

Prepartum Fat Mobilization in Dairy Cows with Equal Body Condition and Its Impact on Health, Behavior, Milk Production and Fertility during Lactation

“…Assessment of daily activity patterns showed that cows in the HFM group were less active and spent more time lying down than those cows in the LFM group following calving. Although no specific information studying the role of prepartum NEFA concentration on postpartum behavior is currently available, some evidence indicates that behavior is modified in animals that suffer from disorders or diseases causing stress and pain [57][58][59][60]. As previously mentioned, the incidence of disease did not differ between groups, which could confirm that fat mobilization plays an important role influencing daily activity during the postpartum, regardless of the presence of disease.…”

Associations of postpartum lying time with culling, milk yield, cyclicity, and reproductive performance of lactating dairy cows

“…In turn, LPS inhibits the release of GnRH and LH and aromatase activity within ovarian follicles, resulting in decreased follicular growth and decreased blood estradiol Herath et al, 2009). Moreover, cows diagnosed with infectious diseases (e.g., metritis) early in lactation typically have increased serum concentrations of haptoglobin compared with nondiseased cows (Stangaferro et al, 2016a,b,c;Barragan et al, 2018). Dubuc et al (2012) showed that cycling lactating cows at 21 DIM had reduced serum concentrations of haptoglobin for the first 3 wk after calving compared with anovular cows at 21,35,49,or 63 DIM. Regardless of parity, ND lactating cows produced more milk at first DHIA test than KET+ cows.…”