Milk fatty acids as possible biomarkers to diagnose hyperketonemia in early lactation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the potential of milk fatty acids as diagnostic tool for hyperketonemia of 93 dairy cows in a 3×2 factorial arrangement. Cows were fed a glucogenic or lipogenic diet and originally were intended to be subjected to a 0-, 30-, or 60-d dry period. Nevertheless, some of the cows, which were intended for inclusion in the 0-d dry period group, dried off spontaneously. Milk was collected in wk 2, 3, 4, and 8 of lactation for milk fat analysis. Blood was sampled from wk 2 to 8 after parturition for β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) analysis. Cases were classified into 2 groups: hyperketonemia (BHBA ≥1.2mmol/L) and nonhyperketonemia (BHBA <1.2mmol/L). Concentrations of 45 milk fatty acids and ratios of anteiso C15:0-to-anteiso C17:0 and C18:1 cis-9-to-C15:0 were subjected to a logistic regression analysis (stepwise forward method). The milk fat C18:1 cis-9-to-C15:0 ratio revealed the most discriminating factor for diagnosis of hyperketonemia. Ninety percent of nonhyperketonemia cases showed a milk fat C18:1 cis-9-to-C15:0 ratio of 40 or lower, whereas 70% of cows suffering from hyperketonemia showed milk fat C18:1 cis-9-to-C15:0 ratios exceeding 40. Additionally, cows with a milk fat ratio C18:1 cis-9-to-C15:0 of at least 45 in wk 2 after parturition had about 50% chance to encounter blood plasma BHBA values of 1.2mmol/L or more during the first 8 wk of lactation. Of the cows not suffering from hyperketonemia during the first 2 mo of lactation, only 9% exceeded this wk 2 threshold. Practical implementation requires routine analysis of both milk fatty acids, which currently is lacking for C15:0. The inclusion of other variables, such as test-day information and a more frequent sampling protocol should be considered to further improve diagnostic performance of this biomarker.

A 100-Year Review: Metabolic health indicators and management of dairy cattle

“…A larger data set using 92 early-lactation Holstein-Friesian cows from a research herd in the Netherlands found a 50% increased risk of plasma NEFA ≥0.6 mmol/L in cows with at least 240 g/kg of C18:1 cis-9 in milk fat; however, sensitivity for this method was just under 50% (Jorjong et al, 2014). This group also reported that a milk fat ratio of C18:1 cis-9 to C15:0 >40 was present in 70% of hyperketonemic animals (Jorjong et al, 2015). Mann et al (2016) investigated the diagnostic value of milk fatty acids and fatty acid ratios for correct classification of 84 multiparous cows in a research herd in New York State as having high NEFA or BHB concentrations.…”

“…They found that although several fatty acid concentrations were associated with elevated NEFA and BHB, correct classification was only moderate; thus, they could not recommend this measurement method over direct blood detection methods. Both Jorjong et al (2014Jorjong et al ( , 2015 and Mann et al (2016) stated that practical use of this information most likely requires routine analysis of milk fatty acids and repeated sampling of an individual animal; however, current technology does not support a method of on-farm milk fatty acid determination that is rapid and cost effective.…”

Clinical Ketosis-Associated Alteration of Gene Expression in Holstein Cows

“…Many studies have found that BHBA is a predominant and stable blood ketone body in ruminant ketosis [4,10], which, therefore, has been widely used for clinically diagnosing and classifying ketosis in dairy cows [11]. Furthermore, a large number of molecular biomarkers have been also identified to be associated with ketosis, such as milk fatty acids [12], serum hepatokines [13], inflammatory biomarkers [14], methylglyoxal [2], metabolites [15], mineral elements [16], protein profiling [17], and amino acids [18] in blood.…”

Influence of Nutrition on Methane Gas Production in Murciano-Granadina Goats

“…Higher vaccenic acids in OP and SH diets seems to be positively correlated with negative energy balances in goats. Jorjong et al (2015) found positive correlation between negative energy balance and oleic acid in dairy cow.…”

“…Excessive amounts of NEFA released during body fat mobilization are transferred to the milk. The major NEFA released are palmitic acid, stearic acid and oleic acid, and their elevated concentration in milk fat of those FA were identified as valuable early warning biomarkers for negative energy balance (Jorjong et al, 2015). Greater (P < 0.05) concentration of palmitic acid, heptadecanoic acid and vaccenic acid were found in OP and SH than BRL, and the highest value of oleic acid was found in SH diet.…”