Effects of excessive energy intake and supplementation with chromium propionate on insulin resistance parameters in nonlactating dairy cows1

Abstract

The objective was to compare insulin resistance parameters in cows with adequate or excessive energy intake as well as in cows with excessive energy intake receiving Cr supplementation as chromium propionate. Thirteen multiparous, nonlactating Gir × Holstein cows were ranked by BW and BCS and assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatments on d 0: 1) diet to meet their ME requirements without Cr supplementation (MAN; n = 4), 2) diet to exceed their ME requirements without Cr supplementation (HIGH; n = 4), and 3) HIGH with 2.5 g/d of chromium propionate (HIGHCR; n = 5, with 10 mg of Cr/cow daily). Diets were formulated to provide 100% of daily ME requirements of MAN and 177% of daily ME requirements of HIGH and HIGHCR cows and offered twice daily via individual self-locking head gates from d 0 to 88. Cow BW and BCS were recorded on d 0 and 88 of the experiment. Blood samples were collected before and 2 h after the morning feeding twice weekly. Preprandial revised quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (RQUICKI) was determined using serum glucose, insulin, and NEFA concentrations obtained before feeding. Glucose tolerance tests (GTT) were performed on d 32 and 88 by infusing cows with 0.5 g of glucose/kg of BW whereas blood samples were collected at -15, 0, 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min relative to infusion. Change in BCS tended to be greater in HIGH and HIGHCR (P = 0.09) compared with MAN cows. Within samples collected twice weekly, serum concentrations of glucose, insulin (beginning on d 14 of the experiment), and NEFA (preprandial samples only) were greater (P ≤ 0.05) in HIGH compared with HIGHCR cows and tended to be greater in HIGH compared with MAN cows (P ≤ 0.10) but did not differ (P ≥ 0.52) between HIGHCR and MAN cows. Moreover, HIGH cows had reduced RQUICKI compared with MAN (P = 0.02) and HIGHCR cows (P = 0.05) whereas RQUICKI was similar between MAN and HIGHCR cows (P = 0.53). Within samples collected during the GTT, mean serum insulin concentrations and insulin:glucose ratio were greater (P < 0.01) in HIGH compared with HIGHCR cows, tended (P ≤ 0.09) to be greater in HIGH compared with MAN cows, and were similar (P ≥ 0.16) between HIGHCR and MAN cows. Serum glucose concentrations were greater (P < 0.01) for HIGH compared with MAN and HIGHCR cows 20 min relative to infusion. In conclusion, chromium propionate supplementation prevented the increase in insulin resistance caused by excessive energy intake in nonlactating dairy cows.

Effects of body condition on the insulin resistance, lipid metabolism and oxidative stress of lactating dairy cows

“…Low insulin sensitivity in HBCS cows might downregulate tissue lipoprotein lipase activity and VLDL-triacylglycerol utilization, which in turn appears to increase serum triacylglycerol [24,25]. Leiva et al (2018) approved that reduction of insulin resistance would lead to inhibition of lipolysis in HBCS-cows [20]. Moreover, the synthesis and secretion of apolipoproteins that limit VLDL assembly and secretion were lower in ruminants as compared to nonruminants [9].…”

“…Commercial ELISA kits (Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute., Nanjing, China) were used to analyze serum insulin, glucagon, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), apo A-I, apolipoprotein B (apo B), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), PON, myeloperoxidase, and ROS. To analyze insulin sensitivity, the revised quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (RQUICKI) was calculated using the following equation [20]:…”

Associations of insulin resistance later in lactation on fertility of dairy cows

“…However, the required insulin concentration to control infused glucose was greater in the high-energy group (basal insulin concentrations ¼ 7.3 AE 1.6 and 23.2 AE 8.9 mIU/mL; P ¼ 0.05; peak of insulin concentrations ¼ 107.9 AE 19.0 and 192.4 AE 29.3 mg/dL; P ¼ 0.03), with peripheral insulin resistance in cows eating a high-energy diet. In another study, nonlactating dairy cows consuming excessive energy had reduced insulin sensitivity (during a GTT) indicative of insulin resistance [23], compared to cows consuming adequate amounts of energy.…”

“…However, if there was adequate nutrition and good environment conditions, the situation might be different because the majority of cows will become pregnant during early lactation, and the fewer late-lactation nonpregnant cows are less likely to develop disorder such as insulin resistance. Additionally, supplementing chromium propionate to prevent insulin resistance (by enhancing insulin signaling and promoting greater glucose uptake) in cows consuming excessive energy was recently reported in both lactating [8] and nonlactating dairy cows [23].…”

Biological responses of feedlot cattle to heat load

“…adipose tissue, skeletal muscle and the liver, to insulin induced glucose disposal (Treiber et al, 2005;Suagee et al, 2012;De Koster et al, 2015). Insulin resistance has been associated with persistent hyperglycemia despite increased insulin secretion (Leiva et al, 2014). This is somewhat unsurprising as plasma insulin concentration is essentially determined by plasma glucose concentration (McCarthy et al, 1977).…”