Peripartum Serum Vitamin E, Retinol, and Beta-Carotene in Dairy Cattle and Their Associations with Disease

Abstract

Peripartum decreases in serum concentrations of vitamins A and E may contribute to impaired immune function in dairy cows. The objectives of this study were to describe peripartum serum concentrations of alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, and retinol and their associations with disease risk. On 20 farms over 1 yr, blood samples were collected weekly from 1057 cows from 1 wk before expected calving until 1 wk postpartum. Serum concentrations of alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, and retinol, as well as several biochemical variables were measured. Their associations with the risk of retained placenta or clinical mastitis were modeled separately with logistic regression, and the factors associated with the concentration of each vitamin were modelled with mixed linear regression. Differences in vitamin concentrations between 2 batches of sera analyzed 6 mo apart required stratification of statistical analyses. Accounting for the effects of parity, season, and twins, an increase in alpha-tocopherol of 1 microg/mL in the last week prepartum reduced the risk of retained placenta by 20%, whereas serum nonesterified fatty acid concentration > or = 0.5 mEq/L tended to increase risk of retained placenta by 80%. In the last week prepartum, a 100 ng/mL increase in serum retinol was associated with a 60% decrease in the risk of early lactation clinical mastitis. There were significant positive associations of peripartum serum concentrations among each of alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, and retinol.

Effects of Vitamin E on Reproductive Protection in Pregnant Mice Infected with Pseudorabies Virus (PRV) via Regulating Expression of Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs) and Cytokine Balance

“…It was also found that the live embryo number was lower in PRV-challenged mice than in PBS-treated mice when fed on vitamin E at 75 mg/kg diet, but the live embryo number didn't differ between PRV-challenged and PBS-treated mice when fed on vitamin E at 375 mg/kg diet. It was inferred that a higher amount of vitamin E may be required by PRV-challenged mice to maintain normal reproductive performance, which is in agreement with previous reports in swine (39) and cows (40).…”

Oxidative stress and antioxidant status in dairy cows during prepartal and postpartal periods

“…Vitamin E neutralizes free radicals by formation of the prooxidant vitamin E radical, which under normal physiological states will be regenerated to vitamin E by GSH-Px and vitamin C. Interestingly, plasma concentrations of vitamin E decrease through the transition period and low antioxidant status is associated with disorders in transition cows (LeBlanc et al 2004). These low concentrations are also associated with increased incidence of fatty liver and displaced abomasums (Mudron et al 1997).…”

Monitoring Metabolic Health of Dairy Cattle in the Transition Period

“…High NEFA (>0.4 mmol/l) in the last 7 to 10 days before expected calving is associated with: 2 to 4 times increased risk of LDA [17,47]; 2 times increased risk of retained placenta [16,48]; 2 times increased of culling before 60 days in milk (DIM) and 1.5 times increased risk of culling over the whole lactation [49]; and 1.1 kg/day less milk production in the first 4 months of lactation [50].…”

“…Cows in greater negative energy balance, and in particular those that go on to have metritis or endometritis have more pronounced impairment of at least some immune functions [5]. Cows in a greater degree of negative energy balance prepartum, as evidenced by higher nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations were 80% more likely to have RP, and accounting for the effect of NEFA, those with lower circulating vitamin E were at greater risk of RP [16]. This supports the notion that severe negative energy balance impairs immune function, which in turn makes RP more likely, but also underlines the fact that the development of RP is multifactorial.…”