Relationship of concentrations of cortisol in hair with health, biomarkers in blood, and reproductive status in dairy cows

Abstract

Hair cortisol has been used to measure chronic stress in dairy cows as it offers the advantage of being noninvasive, fast, and able to indicate levels of cortisol over long periods. The aim of this study was to determine the associations between hair cortisol with clinical disorders, reproductive status, and the development of subclinical endometritis in dairy cows. Furthermore, we aimed to determine the association between hair cortisol concentrations and blood markers associated with metabolic status and acute inflammation. In experiment 1, cows (n=64) were hair sampled every 3wk from the tail switch beginning at calving (d 0) until d 126 for cortisol analysis; blood samples were collected every 3wk from d 0 until 42 for β-hydroxybutyrate and glucose analysis. In experiment 2, cows (n=54) were chosen retrospectively by diagnosis of subclinical endometritis (END), subclinical endometritis and at least 1 clinical disease (END+CLIN), or as healthy (control) using a cytobrush and ultrasonography at 30±3d in milk. At the same time, animals were hair sampled for cortisol analysis and blood sampled for haptoglobin and ceruloplasmin analysis. Health records were recorded throughout both experimental periods. Animals with clinical disease presented higher cortisol concentrations than clinically healthy animals in experiment 1 [geometric mean (95% confidence interval); 8.8 (7.8, 9.9) vs. 10.7 (9.6, 12.0) pg/mg]; however, animals diagnosed with subclinical endometritis in experiment 2 did not differ in hair cortisol concentrations [11.7 (9.8, 14.0), 12.2 (9.3, 15.9), 10.5 (8.1, 13.6) pg/mg for control, END, and END+CLIN, respectively]. In experiment 1, an effect of sample day was noted, where d 21 had higher cortisol concentrations than d 42, 84, and 126, but not from d 0 for both parities. Within both experiments, a parity effect was present where multiparous animals consistently had higher cortisol concentrations than primiparous animals. Multiparous cows that became pregnant by 100d postpartum had lower concentrations of hair cortisol at d 42 and 84 in milk. Lastly, other biomarkers associated with metabolic status and acute inflammation, such as glucose, β-hydroxybutyrate, haptoglobin, and ceruloplasmin, were not strongly correlated with measurements of cortisol in hair. Overall, hair cortisol measurements appear to be associated with clinical disorders and have a direct association with pregnancy status; however, concentrations of hair cortisol may not be suited to differentiate situations of stress with lower magnitudes, such as the development of subclinical disease.

Hair cortisol concentration and adrenal gland weight in healthy and ill cows

“…Chronically ill cows had higher hair cortisol concentrations than acutely ill cows, which was in agreement with findings of another study (Burnett et al, 2015). There was no correlation overall between hair cortisol concentration and adrenal gland weight.…”

“…Hair cortisol concentration therefore has evolved as a novel biomarker for chronic stress in humans (Russel et al, 2012). There have been several studies on hair cortisol concentrations in healthy and ill cattle (González-de-la-Vara et al, 2011;Comin et al, 2011Comin et al, , 2012Comin et al, , 2013Peric et al, 2013;Burnett et al, 2014Burnett et al, , 2015; ill cattle have higher concentrations than healthy cattle Burnett et al, 2015). To the authors' knowledge, there have been no studies comparing adrenal gland weight and hair cortisol concentrations in cattle.…”

“…Overall, hair cortisol concentrations measured in the present study were lower than those of comparable studies and the most likely reason for this are methodical differences. We used a technique that combined liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for cortisol measurement whereas others used a radio immunoassay (González-de-la-Vara et al, 2011;Comin et al, 2011Comin et al, , 2012Comin et al, , 2013Peric et al, 2013), an ELISA (Burnett et al, 2014) or enzyme immunoassay (Burnett et al, 2015). Mass spectrometry is considered the gold standard for hair analysis because it is more sensitive and more specific than other tration differed among the disease groups (P < 0.…”

Hair cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone concentrations in naturally Taenia solium infected pigs in Tanzania

“…Several authors have reported the correlation between altered physiologic status and high hair cortisol concentrations (Burnett et al, 2015, Comin et al, 2012a, Comin et al, 2012b, Comin et al, 2013, Corradini et al, 2013). Galuppi et al (2013) studied the relation between Microsporum canis infection in cats and hair cortisol concentrations, but so far no one has considered parasitic loads and hair steroids concentrations (Galuppi et al, 2013).…”

Hair cortisol concentration in pre‐ and postpartum dairy cows, and its association with body condition, hock health, and reproductive status

“…A large-scale investigation in the United States revealed that deep-bedded and well-maintained stalls reduce the risk of hock injuries (Barrientos, Chapinal, Weary, Galo, & Keyserlingk, 2013). Although more investigations are necessary, Several studies have examined the effect of parturition on hair cortisol concentrations in dairy cows (Braun, Michel, Baumgartner, Hassig, & Binz, 2017;Burnett et al, 2014Burnett et al, , 2015Endo, Kuroki, & Tanaka, 2017). When hair was collected at three-week intervals from 0 to 126 days postpartum from healthy lactating cows, increased hair cortisol concentrations were only found during the early lactation period of 0-21 days postpartum (Burnett et al, 2014).…”