Noninvasive measurements of carotenoids in bovine udder by reflection spectroscopy

Abstract

For a long time, the antioxidative status in cattle has been discussed as an indicator for stress conditions resulting from disease or exertion. Until now, invasive approaches have been necessary to obtain blood samples or biopsy materials and gain insights into the antioxidative status of cattle. Due to these efforts and the costs of the analyses, serial sampling is feasible in an experimental setting, but not for measurements on a routine basis. The present study focuses on the feasibility of an innovative, noninvasive spectroscopic technique that allows in vivo measurements of carotenoids in the skin by reflection spectroscopy. To this end, in a first trial, repeated measurements of the carotenoid concentration of the udder skin were performed on 25 healthy cattle from different breeds. Carotenoid concentrations showed highly significant differences between individual animals (P<0.001), although they were kept under the same environmental conditions and received the same diet. The carotenoid concentrations in "sensitive" and "robust" cows (evaluated by a temperament test) differed significantly (P<0.005), with higher concentrations observed in robust cows.

Serial Non-Invasive Measurements of Dermal Carotenoid Concentrations in Dairy Cows following Recovery from Abomasal Displacement

“…The latter findings are in accordance with earlier observations in healthy dairy cows that were examined at their farm of origin and that were kept under the same conditions and received the same diet [16]. When measuring isolated perfused cow udders ex vivo using reflection spectroscopy, Niedorf et al also established a strong heterogeneity of the samples in terms of the β-carotene concentration in the skin [18].…”

“…The time interval between the measurements was only a few seconds. This procedure has previously been described in detail by Klein et al [16]. The median and the standard deviation were calculated from the triploid measurements at three different sites in close proximity.…”

“…Innovative technologies such as reflection spectroscopy have been applied to determine dermal carotenoid concentrations in order to evaluate the effects of stress conditions on the oxidative status of humans. A hand-held miniaturized spectroscopic system (Opsolution GmbH, Kassel, Germany) is available, which allows serial non-invasive measurements of the dermal carotenoid concentrations in real-time on humans or animals [15], [16].…”

Combined reflectance spectroscopy and stochastic modeling approach for noninvasive hemoglobin determination via palpebral conjunctiva

“…; Klein et al. ), which are easily accessible, but present difficulties when monitoring Hgb signal due to interracial/interpatient melanin fluctuations, high scattering in turbid media, and weak signals due to skin tissue absorption at visible and near infra‐red wavelengths. These factors can potentially influence the necessary instrumentation and inhibit the acceptance of noninvasive technology by clinicians.…”

“…Tissue reflectance spectroscopy allows one to obtain optical properties of the tissue by measuring its reflectance spectra. Reflectance spectroscopy was previously implemented to characterize cutaneous tissues (Bigio et al 2000;Mourant et al 2005;Randeberg et al 2010Randeberg et al , 2011Kim et al 2012;Klein et al 2012), which are easily accessible, but present difficulties when monitoring Hgb signal due to interracial/interpatient melanin fluctuations, high scattering in turbid media, and weak signals due to skin tissue absorption at visible and near infra-red wavelengths. These factors can potentially influence the necessary instrumentation and inhibit the acceptance of noninvasive technology by clinicians.…”