Effects of conjugated linoleic acids fed to dairy cows during early gestation on hematological, immunological, and metabolic characteristics of cows and their calves

Abstract

The aim of the present experiment was to test the stimulation ability of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) expressed as stimulation index (SI) of newborn calves and of their dams fed a control fat supplement (CON, n = 6) or 50 and 100 g/d of a CLA-containing fat supplement (CLA50, n = 5, and CLA100, n = 6, respectively) during the preceding lactation period for 182 d after calving. The total intake of cis-9,trans-11 and trans-10,cis-12 CLA by groups CLA50 and CLA100 amounted to 4 and 8 g/d each, respectively. For this purpose, blood was collected immediately after parturition from calves before and after colostrum intake, and from cows after parturition and 21 d later. The SI was related to the fatty acid composition of erythrocyte and milk lipids and to various hematological and clinical-chemical parameters. Retrospective evaluation revealed that depletion time (i.e., the individual period elapsed between the day of terminating the feeding of the experimental diet in the preceding lactation period and the day of calving) ranged from 190 to 262 d, which corresponded to fetal exposure times of 19 to 102 d. The SI from cows increased significantly by 77 and 55%,, within 21 d after calving according to the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and Alamar Blue assays, respectively. However, feeding of 50 g of the CLA product failed to demonstrate this increase in the MTT assay. Moreover, SI was significantly lower for calves whose dams belonged to the CLA50 group, whereas stimulation ability was comparable for the PBMC from calves whose mothers were treated with CON and CLA100. Plasma metabolites (total bilirubin, total cholesterol, glucose, nonesterified fatty acids, 3-β-hydroxybutyrate, total protein, and albumin) and hematological parameters (hematocrit, white blood cell profile) were not significantly influenced by dietary treatments of the cows in the preceding lactation period. Although the fatty acid pattern of erythrocyte lipids of cows remained uninfluenced, that of calves showed alterations due to the feeding type of their dams. For example, C16:0 increased significantly from 14.4 to 16.9% of total fatty acid methyl esters, whereas cis-9,trans-11 CLA increased slightly from 0.11 to 0.15% at the same time in calves when their mothers were fed the CLA100 instead of the CON diet. Fatty acid profile of colostrum was significantly different from that of milk after 3 wk for most of the detected fatty acids, but was not influenced by diet type. In conclusion, feeding a CLA-containing fat supplement during the preceding lactation and gestation period exerted effects on the stimulation ability of PBMC from cows and calves for the subsequent parturition. However, CLA dose effects were inconsistent and require further investigation.

Impacts of CLA and dietary concentrate proportion on blood metabolite concentration and proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of periparturient dairy cows

“…This is in accordance with other studies (Dänicke et al, 2012;Renner et al, 2012a and2012b), also observing that the SI changed in the course of lactation. Dairy cows are known to be immune compromised around parturition (Mallard et al, 1998), reflected in an impaired lymphocyte function (Franklin et al, 1991;Goff, 2006) and also in a reduced response of PBMC to mitogen-stimulation (Nonnecke et al, 2003;Loiselle et al, 2009).…”

Effects of maternal subnutrition during early pregnancy on cow hematological profiles and offspring physiology and vitality in two beef breeds

“…Given that the MCHC and HGB values were within the reference range, and they did not differ between the nutritional treatments, and hypochromic anemia in the undernourished group was discarded (Almaguer, ). Similarly, Dänicke et al () did not find differences in HCT, WBC, GRAN, LYM, and MON values in newborn calves whose mothers were submitted to a nutritional treatment during the first days of pregnancy. Hematopoiesis is a long process that starts in the blood islands of the embryo yolk sac in the third week of pregnancy and is a continuous process throughout gestation (Tchernia, ).…”

“…Pregnancy status ( p > 0.05) did not have any effect, possibly due to the low metabolic and nutrient requirements of the developing fetus during the first month of gravidity (Dänicke et al, ). In fact, Mir et al () described the increase in the HGB, HCT, RBC, MCV, and MCHC values in mid‐gestation in crossbreed cows to accommodate the higher need for oxygen consumption in advanced pregnancies.…”

Fatty acid profile and proliferation of bovine blood mononuclear cells after conjugated linoleic acid supplementation

“…However, at this time, when CLA supplementation was no longer fed, the cows still did not exhibit differences in the mitogen stimulated response of PBMC, but the SI was increasing from d 0 to d 21 pp in all groups [23]. …”