Metabolic and mineral conditions of retained placenta in highly productive dairy cows: pathogenesis, diagnostics and prevention – a review

Abstract

The time around calving in highly productive dairy cows is a critical period in terms of their metabolism, which is connected with high demands of the foetus as well as with the onset of lactation. Retained placenta in cows may have multifactorial aetiology, but in herds which are free from infectious diseases, the most important reasons are; periparturient metabolic changes and disturbances to the internal balance and stress. During the periparturient period, the most important factor causing immune suppression and hypotony of uterus in cows is metabolic stress due to hormonal and nutritional factors, including metabolic fluctuations, negative energy balance, as well as shortage of proteins, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. This metabolic stress as a result of an imbalance in the internal metabolic homeostasis activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA) and increases serum corticosterid (cortisol) concentration, especially on the day of calving. Cortisol is a powerful immune suppressive factor that causes depression of leukocyte proliferation and their functions. The periparturient metabolic stress may also stimulate the production of catecholamines, especially adrenalin. Elevated levels of adrenalin activate adrenoreceptors of the myometrium, which in turn cause hypotony or atony of the uterus at calving in cows. Elevated levels of cortisol and adrenalin may significantly inhibit the rejection and expulsion of foetal membranes in cows, resulting in an increased incidence of their retention. These important mechanisms for placental retention in highly productive dairy cows often have primary nutritional metabolic aetiology, but they also occur during secondary metabolic disturbances and metabolic stress during calving. This metabolic and immunological aetiology and pathogenesis of retained placenta usually occur in highly productive periparturient cows on dairy farms in the absence of bovine infectious diseases, which can couse placentitis, stillbirth and the infectious origin of foetal membrane retention. The paper presents the most important metabolic, mineral and immunological disturbances as conditions for retained placenta in dairy cows. It also shows different methods of herd monitoring, important examples of clinical and laboratory diagnostics, and methods of nutritional and veterinary prevention of this health problem in dairy cows.

Leucogram, fibrinogen, plasmatic proteins and glucose evaluation in dairy cows before and after calving

“…The plasma concentration of this marker increases under conditions of inflammation, stress, and trauma (COLE et al, 1997;SILVA et al, 2008). The reference values for fibrinogen in cattle are 3 to 7 g/L (MORDAK et al, 2017). In our study, the levels of this protein were 4.2 ± 1.4 g/L before calving and 5.2 ± 1.7 g/L after calving (p < 0.05).…”

Retained placenta in Relation with Blood Components in Egyptian crossbred cattle

“…Blood serum metabolic and mineral limits in cows as follows: glucose (3-4 mmol/l), albumins (30-49 g/l), Mg (> 0.7 mmol/l), P (> 1.3 mmol/l), for Normal cows and Ca (2.4-3.0 mmol/l), cholesterol (1.8-5.2 mmol/l), may be helpful during potential biochemical blood metabolic monitoring in dairy cows in terms of RP (Winnicka 1997). In addition; the normal limits for the most important trace elements in serum as Cu (9.2 μmol/l), I (3-6 μg/l), Mo (>1.1 μmol/l), Fe (25-35 μmol/l), Co (0.38-1.85 μmol/l) or in plasma as Se (> 110 μg/l), Zn (80-120 μg/dl), Mn (5-6 μg/l) (Mordak et al 2017).…”

Relationships among Macro-Minerals, Other Selected Serum Markers of Bone Profile and Milk Components of Dairy Cows During Late Lactation

“…Calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are very important macro-minerals in the body that maintain health and milk yield in cows, and should be carefully monitored (Whitaker et al, 2005, Cook et al, 2006, Kendall and Bone, 2006, Mordak and Nicpoń 2006, Filipejová and Kováčik 2009, LeBlanc 2011, Kupczyński et al, 2011, Jóźwik et al, 2012, Mordak et al, 2017, Kołacz et al, 2017, Djokovic et al, 2019. Appropriate macro-mineral homeostasis ensures proper biochemical processes and normal functions of various body systems, including bone structure mobilising which accounts for about 98% calcium, 85% phosphorus, 55% magnesium of the body, as well as extracellular space and blood serum that bind about 1% of these body macro-minerals (Downey andSiegel, 2006, Datta et al, 2008).…”