Effects of Feeding Colostrum and a Formula with Nutrient Contents as Colostrum on Metabolic and Endocrine Traits in Neonatal Calves

Abstract

Colostrum provides high amounts of nutrients and non-nutrient substances to neonates. To study differences between effects of nutritional and non-nutritional components on growth, health status and metabolic and endocrine traits, a formula was created based on bovine milk components which contained similar amounts of nutrients as bovine colostrum during the first 3 days of lactation, but only trace amounts of growth factors (such as insulin-like growth factor I) or hormones (such as insulin) in whey. Calves were fed either pooled colostrum of milkings 1 to 6, obtained during the first 3 days of lactation (GrC, n = 7) or a formula in the same amounts as colostrum (GrF, n = 7) for the first 3 days, followed by a milk replacer up to day 7. Pre- and postprandial blood samples were taken on days 1, 2, 3 and 7 for the determination of metabolic and endocrine traits and on day 5 we measured intestinal absorptive capacity by testing xylose absorption. Plasma concentrations of total protein and immunoglobulin G and γ-glutamyltransferase activity were lower (p < 0.05), whereas albumin and urea concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in GrF than GrC during the first week of life. Plasma glucose concentrations were variably affected. Plasma triglyceride, phospholipid and cholesterol concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in GrC than GrF on days 3 and 7. Insulin and growth hormone concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in GrC than GrF on days 2 and 3 and on days 1 and 2, respectively, and glucagon concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in GrC than GrF on day 1 and higher (p < 0.05) in GrF than GrC on day 3. Cortisol concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) on days 2 and 3 in GrF than GrC. Plasma xylose concentrations rose more markedly (p < 0.05) in GrC than GrF. In conclusion, feeding only trace amounts of bioactive substances appears to impair intestinal absorptive capacity and protein and fat metabolism and exert effects on endocrine systems in neonatal calves.

Effects of colostrum versus formula feeding on hepatic glucocorticoid and α1- and β2-adrenergic receptors in neonatal calves and their effect on glucose and lipid metabolism

“…As a consequence, the maturation of the postnatal somatotropic axis is delayed and leptin status is reduced in calves with insufficient colostrum supply (Hammon and Blum, 1997;Sauter et al, 2003;Blum et al, 2005). In the present study, we observed reduced plasma concentrations of IGF-I, leptin, T 3 , and T 4 as well as reduced plasma insulin, but elevated plasma cortisol concentrations, as was shown in other experiments (Hammon and Blum, 1998;Rauprich et al, 2000;Steinhoff-Wagner et al, 2011a), indicating an impaired energy status in calves fed no colostrum but a milk replacer with comparable energy content (Brockman and Laarveld, 1986;Hammon et al, 2012Hammon et al, , 2013. Greater plasma concentrations of leptin may point to larger fat depots in colostrum-fed calves (Reidy and Weber, 2000;Ingvartsen and Boisclair, 2001;Blum et al, 2005) and greater IGF-I plasma concentrations accentuate stimulation of anabolic processes in calves after feeding colostrum (Hammon and Blum, 1997;Sauter et al, 2003;Hammon et al, 2012).…”

“…There is an obvious lack of promoting postnatal growth and maturation in calves fed milk with the same nutrient content as colostrum but no bioactive factors, such as growth factors, hormones, cytokines, and other peptides that support postnatal development and maturation (Blum, 2006;Gauthier et al, 2006;Blum and Baumrucker, 2008). The huge increase in plasma triacylglyceride concentrations in FF calves on d 4 was surprising, because fat intake was the same between groups, in contrast to previous findings where plasma triacylglycerides increased much more after colostrum than formula feeding (Rauprich et al, 2000;Hammon et al, 2012). However, fat in the present formula was from vegetable fat and based on palm and coconut oil, whereas in previous studies, milk …”

“…Greater plasma concentrations of leptin may point to larger fat depots in colostrum-fed calves (Reidy and Weber, 2000;Ingvartsen and Boisclair, 2001;Blum et al, 2005) and greater IGF-I plasma concentrations accentuate stimulation of anabolic processes in calves after feeding colostrum (Hammon and Blum, 1997;Sauter et al, 2003;Hammon et al, 2012). Decreasing concentrations of T 3 and T 4 during the first week of life has been reported previously in calves, but diet effects on T 3 and T 4 status in neonatal calves are inconsistent (Grongnet et al, 1985;Hammon and Blum, 1998;Rauprich et al, 2000).…”

“…In neonatal calves, eGP, through gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis, increases after birth to meet glucose demands, because lactose intake is not sufficient to meet postnatal glucose requirements (Girard, 1990;Steinhoff-Wagner et al, 2011b;Hammon et al, 2013). Due to fat intake by colostrum feeding, reflected by increasing plasma concentrations of triacylglycerides and several proteins related to lipid transport in colostrumfed calves (Hammon and Blum, 1998;Rauprich et al, 2000;Herosimczyk et al, 2013), fat sources become an additional fuel to meet energy requirements in the neonate that requires adaptation of neonatal energy metabolism (Girard, 1990;Hammon et al, 2012).…”

Effects of parity and periconceptional metabolic state of Holstein–Friesian dams on the glucose metabolism and conformation in their newborn calves

“…It must be mentioned that colostrum and milk feeding influence glucose homeostasis in calves (Hammon and Blum, 1998;Rauprich et al, 2000). Since colostrum, milk, starter and roughage feeding management was constant among calves and all tests were carried out after a 14 h fast, confounding of the data by nutritional differences in the calves seems unlikely.…”