Identification of disordered metabolic networks in postpartum dairy cows with left displacement of the abomasum through integrated metabolomics and pathway analyses

Abstract

High-producing dairy cows are easily affected by left displacement of the abomasum (LDA) within 4 weeks postpartum. Although LDA is highly associated with metabolic disturbances, the related information on comprehensive metabolic changes, with the exception of some blood biochemical parameters, remains limited. In this study, the changes in plasma metabolites and in the metabolic profile of postpartum dairy cows with LDA were investigated through liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q/ TOF-MS)-based metabolomics, and the metabolic networks related to LDA were constructed through metabolomics pathway analysis (MetPA). An obvious change in the metabolic profile was reflected by significant variations in 68 plasma metabolites in postpartum dairy cows with LDA, and these variations consequently altered 13 metabolic pathways (histidine metabolism, tyrosine metabolism, valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, arginine and proline metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, linoleic acid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, citrate cycle, butanoate metabolism, vitamin B 6 metabolism and pyrimidine metabolism). This study shows that the more detailed information obtained by LC-Q/TOF-MS-based metabolomics and MetPA might contribute to a better understanding of the disordered metabolic networks in postpartum dairy cows with LDA. KEY WORDS: left displacement of the abomasum, liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry, metabolomics, pathway analysis, postpartum dairy cow Left displacement of the abomasum (LDA) is often observed in high-producing dairy cows mainly within 4 weeks postpartum [2, 12, 14]. Specifically, LDA occurs when the abomasum migrates from its normal position to the left lateral abdominal wall, and this migration can cause anorexia and colic in dairy cows and even death in some cases [45]. Dairy cows with LDA exhibit a lower health status, decreased fertility, less milk production and hence a greater culling rate [11, 26]. Many studies have focused on factors related to LDA, and the findings suggest that the species, breed, gender, age, production level, nutrition, metabolism and concurrent diseases likely play an important role in the pathogenesis of LDA [13]. Marked variations in some blood biochemical parameters, such as amyloid A, haptoglobin, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs), beta-hydroxy-butyrate (BHBA), Ca, P, Mg, Cl, urea, glucose, aspartate aminotransferase and glutamate dehydrogenase, indicate that the metabolic status of lactating dairy cows with abomasum displacement is strikingly altered [18, 32, 34]. Nevertheless, the available information on comprehensive metabolic changes remains limited, and this topic should be further explored using omics technologies. Metabolomics, as a branch of omics research, aims to identify and quantify small endogenous metabolites in biological samples using a high-throughput analytical p...

Plasma metabolome alteration in dairy cows with left displaced abomasum before and after surgical correction

“…Previous studies, and the present results, indicate that LDA cows experience severe metabolic stress, includ- ing a significant increase in lipid metabolism (Hostens et al, 2012;Klevenhusen et al, 2015;Overton et al, 2017). In addition to NEFA and BHB, studies have also reported a significant increase in the plasma levels of stearic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, myristic acid, and arachidonic acid (ARA) in LDA cows (Guo et al, 2020). Changes in these long-chain fatty acids indicate an intensification of lipid metabolism in the body and have also been reported during calving and NEB in dairy cows (Zhang et al, 2013;Loften et al, 2014;Luo et al, 2019).…”

“…To date, although researchers have studied the metabolic changes in cows with LDA based on nuclear magnetic resonance and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (Liu et al, 2015;Guo et al, 2020), few studies have investigated the metabolic changes in cows with LDA following surgery. We hypothesized that LDA in dairy cows would result in metabolic changes in plasma, compared with healthy cows, and that these metabolic changes would be reversed after surgical treatment of the LDA cows.…”

Altered Fecal Microbiome and Correlations of the Metabolome with Plasma Metabolites in Dairy Cows with Left Displaced Abomasum

“…Metabolomics is now widely used to explain the metabolic processes of dairy cows in disease events ( 15 ). Metabolic profiles of cows with LDA have demonstrated marked decreases in amino acid levels in the serum or plasma, including tryptophan, leucine, tyrosine, and isoleucine ( 7 , 16 ), which may be related to a nutrient deficit during the LDA event which reduces the size of the amino acid pool. Thus, knowledge of the amino acid pool and composition can provide insight into the changes in amino acid metabolism in dairy cows with LDA.…”

Sustentabilidad, Turismo y Educación TII

“…Por tanto, su condición es crítica y requiere tratamiento urgente (Mulon et al, 2006). Esta patología presenta una incidencia por lactancia de 0.3 a 6.3% estimando las pérdidas económicas en USD $340/caso, incluyendo pérdida de PL y el costo de la cirugía (Guo et al, 2020).…”