Effects of dietary butyrate supplementation and oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug administration on serum inflammatory markers and productivity of dairy cows during the calving transition

Abstract

Dairy cattle experience inflammation during the calving transition period, and butyrate and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are expected to reduce the inflammation. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of dietary butyrate supplementation and oral NSAID administration on feed intake, serum inflammatory markers, plasma metabolites, and milk production of dairy cows during the calving transition period. Eighty-three Holstein cows were used in the experiment with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. The cows were blocked by parity and calving date, and randomly assigned to a dietary butyrate or control supplement, and NSAID or a placebo oral administration. Experimental diets were iso-energetic containing calcium butyrate at 1.42% of diet dry matter (DM) or the control supplement (1.04% commercial fat supplement and 0.38% calcium carbonate of diet DM). The close-up diets contained 13.3% starch and 42.4% neutral detergent fiber on a DM basis, and were fed from 28 d before expected calving date until calving. The postpartum diets contained 22.1% starch and 34.1% neutral detergent fiber on a DM basis and were fed from calving to 24 d after calving. Oral NSAID (1 mg of meloxicam/kg of body weight) or placebo (food dye) was administered 12 to 24 h after calving. Dietary butyrate supplementation and oral NSAID administration did not affect milk yield or postpartum serum concentrations of amyloid A and haptoglobin. However, butyrate-fed cows increased plasma fatty acid concentration on d −4 relative to calving (501 vs. 340 μEq/L) and tended to increase serum haptoglobin concentration (0.23 vs. 0.10 mg/mL). There was a supplement by drug interaction effect on plasma glucose concentration on d 4; in cows administered the placebo drug, butyrate supplementation decreased plasma glucose concentration compared with control-fed cows (62.8 vs. 70.1 mg/ dL). Butyrate-fed cows tended to have lower milk crude protein yield compared with cows fed the control diet (1.21 vs. 1.27 kg/d). Dietary butyrate supplementation and oral NSAID administration did not have overall positive effects on production performance of dairy cows during the calving transition period.

Prepartum Magnesium Butyrate Supplementation of Dairy Cows Improves Colostrum Yield, Calving Ease, Fertility, Early Lactation Performance and Neonatal Vitality

“…In the present study, cows with MgB supplementation produced more milk during the first week of lactation compared to the Control animals. This finding is in contrast to that of other studies, with either sodium butyrate [ 6 ] and calcium butyrate [ 8 ], which failed to find a significant benefit on lactation performance when supplemented to dairy cows prepartum. It is not clear to what extent the lower number of experimental animals (<20 per group) and/or type of diet in these studies may have contributed to these contrasting findings.…”

“…Kowalski et al [ 6 ] found no benefit of butyrate on lactation performance when sodium butyrate was given to dairy cows prepartum. Recently, a study with calcium butyrate confirmed these findings [ 8 ].…”

“…It is not clear to what extent the lower number of experimental animals (<20 per group) and/or type of diet in these studies may have contributed to these contrasting findings. It is unclear if the increased milk yield in this study was associated with a difference in feed intake, although prepartum butyrate supplementation has been reported previously to not affect pre or postpartum feed intake [ 6 , 8 ].…”

Effects of dietary butyrate supplementation and oral nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug administration on uterine inflammation and interval to first ovulation in postpartum dairy cows

“…All procedures were approved by the University of Alberta Animal Care and Use Committee for Livestock (AUP00003364). This experiment was conducted in tandem with Engelking et al (2022).…”

“…L. E. Engelking, 1 M. Gobikrushanth, 2 M. Oba, 1 and D. J. Ambrose 1 * and dietary butyrate concentration determination, are included in Engelking et al (2022). Experimental diets were fed ad libitum through individual mangers at 0800 h, from 28 ± 3 d before expected calving date to 24 ± 3 d after calving.…”