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Thyroid hormones, blood plasma metabolites and haematological parameters in relationship to milk yield in dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. W. Blum ,
P. Kunz ,
H. Leuenberger ,
K. Gautschi  and
M. Keller
J. W. Blum
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich
P. Kunz
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich
H. Leuenberger
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich
K. Gautschi
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital, 8091 Zürich
M. Keller
Affiliation:
F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Diagnostica, 4133 Schweizerhalle, Switzerland
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Abstract

To study their relationship to milk yield, the concentrations, in jugular venous blood, of thyroxine iodine (T4I), thyroxine (T4), 3,5,3'-tri-iodothyronine (T3), glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), triglycerides, phospholipids, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, urea, haemoglobin and packed cell volume (PCV) have been measured in 36 cows (Simmental, Swiss Brown, Holstein and Simmental × Holstein) of different ages during a full lactation, pregnancy, dry period, parturition and 150 days of the ensuing lactation. Thyroid hormones and triglycerides were negatively, and total protein, globulin, cholesterol and phospholipids were positively, correlated with uncorrected or corrected milk yield during several periods of lactation, whereas glucose, NEFA, albumin, urea, haemoglobin and packed cell volume were not correlated with milk yield. The 10 animals with the highest milk yield (18·9 to 23·5 kg/day) exhibited significantly lower values of T4I, T4, T3 and glucose, significantly higher levels of total protein and globulin and tended to have higher levels of NEFA than the 10 cows with the lowest milk yield (10·9 to 14·3 kg/day) throughout or during certain periods of lactation, whereas concentrations of triglycerides, phospholipids, cholesterol, albumin, haemoglobin and PCV did not differ. Changes in T4I, T4, T3, glucose and total protein during lactation were also influenced by age, presumably associated with an increase in milk production with age. T3 was consistently lowest and cholesterol and phospholipids, during later stages of lactation, were highest in Holsteins, which had the highest milk yields of all breeds. Changes of blood parameters were mainly caused by shifts in energy and protein metabolism in association with level of milk production

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , February 1983 , pp. 93 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1983

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References

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