Effects of intramuscular injections of folic acid, vitamin B12, or both, on lactational performance and energy status of multiparous dairy cows

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to gain understanding on changes in energy partitioning when folic acid and vitamin B supplements, alone or combined, were given by weekly intramuscular injections from 3 wk before the expected calving date until 7 wk postpartum. Twenty-four multiparous cows were assigned to 6 blocks of 4 cows each according to previous 305-d lactation yield to either 0 or 320 mg of folic acid and 0 or 10 mg of vitamin B in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Plasma concentration of folates was increased by folic acid supplement, and this increase was greater with the combined supplement. Vitamin B supplement increased plasma concentration of vitamin B. Even though postpartum energy balance was similar among treatments, postpartum body condition score was higher for cows receiving folic acid supplement compared with cows that did not. Milk yield of cows receiving folic acid supplement reached a plateau earlier than for cows that did not. Fat and protein, as well as total solid concentrations and yields, were unaffected by treatments. Postpartum plasma concentrations of glucose and insulin were higher and postpartum plasma concentration of nonesterified fatty acids was lower for cows that received weekly folic acid supplement compared with cows that did not. Plasma concentration of methylmalonic acid was low and unaffected by treatments, suggesting that vitamin B supply was not limiting, even for unsupplemented cows. Postpartum plasma concentrations of Cys, His, Phe, and Tyr were increased, whereas plasma concentration of Gly was decreased, by folic acid supplement. In the present study, supplementary folic acid altered energy partitioning in early lactation as suggested by similar milk total solid yield and postpartum energy balance, lower plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentration and body condition score losses, and higher plasma glucose and insulin concentrations for cows receiving folic acid supplement compared with cows that did not.

Effect of Dietary Folic Acid Supplementation during Pregnancy on Blood Characteristics and Milk Composition of Ewes

“…Serum folate concentration is an accurate indicator of the status of body folate [18]. In the present study, serum concentration of folate increased linearly with dietary FA supplementation throughout the experiment, which is consistent with previous studies in dairy cows [10,19,20] and sheep [21]. The folate concentration was higher in twin born ewes than triplet born ewes at 90 days after mating, this may be due to the higher folate requirement as gestation progressed with larger litter size from mating to early gestation.…”

Effects of rumen-protected folic acid and betaine supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestion, rumen fermentation and blood metabolites in Angus bulls

“…Therefore, limited response was observed for ADG, ruminal total VFA concentration, apparent total-tract NDF and ADF digestibility and blood folate concentration with addition of BT in the RPFAþ diet and for blood methionine concentration with addition of RPFA or/and BT. Similarly, Duplessis et al (35) reported that intramuscular injection of FA did not affect plasma methionine concentration in dairy cows.…”

Effects of rumen‐protected folic acid and dietary protein level on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, nutrient digestibility and hepatic gene expression of dairy calves

“…The higher blood folate and lower Hcy indicated that dietary FA was absorbed efficiently, and more Hcy was transformed into cysteine and methionine to participant in protein synthesis . Similarly, Duplessis et al, (2016) found that plasma folate increased and Hcy decreased with FA supplementation in dairy cows. The response of blood folate and Hcy to HCP diet suggested that the absorption of FA was promoted with increasing dietary CP level, but further study was required to support this suggestion.…”

“…Similarly, other studies found no influence of increasing dietary CP level on blood glucose in calves (Liu et al, ; Lohakare et al, ). However, Duplessis, Lapierre, Pellerin, Laforest, and Girard () reported that plasma glucose and insulin were unaltered in prepartum dairy cows, but increased in post‐partum dairy cows with FA supplementation. The data suggested that the response of blood glucose and insulin to FA supplementation was associated with the physiological status of animals.…”