Effect of dietary vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 supplementation on plasma and milk 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 concentration in dairy cows

Abstract

Milk enriched with vitamin D by supplementing dairy cow diets could provide a valuable dietary source of vitamin D, but information on the feasibility of this approach is limited. In the current study, the effects of supplementing dairy cows with either vitamin D or 25(OH)D over the transition/early lactation period on plasma and milk vitamin D concentrations were compared. Sixty dairy cows were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 dietary treatments from 14 d precalving to 56 d postcalving. Treatments were a control diet (control) for both precalving and postcalving periods containing 0.625 mg/d of vitamin D; a precalving diet supplemented with 6 mg of 25(OH)D/d, but with a postcalving diet matching that of the control diet [25(OH)D precalving]; the control diet precalving but with the postcalving diet supplemented with 2 mg of vitamin D/d (Dmax), and the control diet precalving but with the postcalving diet supplemented with 1.5 mg of 25(OH)D/d [25(OH)D postcalving]. No treatment effect on milk yield, composition or 25(OH)D concentration was observed. However, an interaction was observed of treatment and time for plasma 25(OH)D concentration; this increased within 2 wk of supplementation for the 25(OH)D precalving treatment (peaking just after calving, 202 ng/mL), whereas that of the 25(OH)D postcalving group had a slower response following supplementation, continuing to increase at 56 d. Correlations were observed between plasma and milk 25(OH)D concentrations at d 4 and 14 of lactation, but not at later sampling times. The Dmax treatment did not increase 25(OH)D concentration in plasma or milk. Overall, results from this study indicate that supplemental 25(OH)D is an effective means of enhancing dairy cow plasma 25(OH)D concentrations compared with vitamin D supplementation, but not necessarily milk concentrations.

Reply to TR Hill and I Kyriazakis

“…However, although a statistically significant increase in vitamin D3 and 25(OH) D3 has been reported after biofortification at supplemental quantities in line with EU legislation (2), these changes are quantitatively trivial and would not contribute to increase in dietary vitamin D3 intake and human vitamin D status as stated by Drs Hill and Kryiazakis (1). We confirmed this in a recent study (3) in which dairy cows' diets were supplemented either with 0.075mg/kg vitamin D3 (control), the maximum permitted dose of vitamin D3 (0.1mg/kg) recommended by the EU (2), or with 0.03mg/kg vitamin D3 plus 25(OH) D3 (0.075 mg/kg) for 8 weeks feeding from calving to early lactation. The vitamin D3 and 25(OH) D3 concentrations in milk from both treatments were not significantly different to the control milk or to themselves (3).…”

Vitamin D Metabolism and Profiling in Veterinary Species

“…No reference range exists for 3-epi-25(OH)D3 in humans, therefore data from a systemic review which reported ranges from several studies was used (see Bailey et al (2013) [79]). The number of studies included to provide data for each of the veterinary species are as follows: (A) dogs n = 8 [80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87], cats n = 1 [85], horses n = 1 [88], sheep n = 4 [30,[89][90][91], cattle n = 2 [92,93], pigs n = 1 [94], poultry n = 2 [95,96] and nonhuman primates n = 2 [97,98]; (B) dogs n = 2 [81,85] and cats n = 1 [85]; and C. dogs n = 1 [83]. nd = no data available for the metabolites measured by LC-MS/MS in that species.…”

“…As such, studies investigating the most efficient way to supplement cattle with vitamin D have been conducted, comparing whether vitamin D or 25(OH)D supplementation is most effective. Supplementation with 25(OH)D3 over vitamin D3 has been demonstrated to improve plasma concentrations of 25(OH)D more effectively [92,93]; there was no difference between the two metabolites ability to improve milk 25(OH)D concentrations [93] but 25(OH)D supplementation increased 25(OH)D3 levels in tissues greater than supplementation with vitamin D3 [92]. Weir et al (2017) have reviewed environmental and genetic factors that influence the vitamin D content of cow's milk [145].…”

Food fortification and biofortification as potential strategies for prevention of vitamin D deficiency

“…Our recent milk biofortification study (Guo et al . ) used a total of 60 dairy cows randomised to vitamin D 3 or 25(OH)D 3 dietary supplementing treatments, within the maximum permitted European Union (EU) vitamin D 3 concentration (2 mg/day vitamin D 3 ) for feed. The results showed that supplementing dairy cows’ feed with 25(OH)D 3 significantly increased the circulating plasma concentrations of 25(OH)D 3 in the cows.…”