Effects of feeding two levels of propionibacteria to dairy cows on plasma hormones and metabolites

Abstract

To determine the effect of feeding propionibacteria on metabolic indicators during lactation, multiparous and primiparous Holstein cows were fed one of three dietary treatments in a 2 x 3 factorial design from 2 weeks prepartum to 30 weeks post partum: (1) Control (primiparous n=5, multiparous n=8) fed a total mixed ration (TMR); (2) high-dose group (primiparous n=6, multiparous n=5) fed TMR plus 6 x 10 (11) cfu/head daily (high-dose P169) of propionibacterium strain P169; or (3) low-dose group (primiparous n=8, multiparous n=6) fed TMR plus 6 x 10(10) cfu/head daily (low-dose P169) of P169. Blood samples were collected weekly and analysed for plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), leptin, nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) and cholesterol. Between weeks 25 and 30, all groups received bovine somatotropin (bST) every 2 weeks. Low-dose P169 multiparous cows had lower (P<0.05) plasma insulin and glucose concentrations than high-dose P169 multiparous cows, whereas high-dose P169 primiparous cows had lower glucose but greater insulin concentartions than low-dose P169 primiparous cows (P<0.05). Plasma insulinratioglucose molar ratios were 13-18% lower (P<0.05) in low-dose P169 cows than in control or high-dose P169 cows. Plasma IGF-I, NEFA and leptin levels did not differ among diet groups between weeks 1 and 25. Low-dose P169 multiparous cows had 25% greater plasma cholesterol levels than high-dose P169 and control multiparous cows, but cholesterol levels in primiparous cows did not differ. During bST treatment, high-dose P169 multiparous cows and low-dose P169 primiparous cows had lower IGF-I levels than their respective controls and, regardless of parity, high-dose P169 cows had greater NEFA than control cows. Although supplemental feeding of P169 altered plasma hormones and metabolites, the particular effects were dependent on dose of P169 and parity of cows.

SupplementingPropionibacterium acidipropioniciP169 does not affect methane production or volatile fatty acid profiles of different diets inin vitrorumen cultures from heifers

“…One particular strain, Propionibacterium acidipropionici P169, is marketed as a commercial supplement for dairy cattle to reduce the incidents of sub-acute acidosis. Supplementing P169 to Holstein dairy cattle increased ruminal propionate, milk production (Stein et al, 2006;Aleman et al, 2007;Weiss et al, 2008), milk solids, but reduced milk fat (Lehloenya et al, 2008a). In addition, Lehloenya et al (2008b) reported that P169 increased propionate which led to a reduction in the acetate:propionate (A:P) ratio in steers fed a sorghum silage-based diet.…”

Using strains of Propionibacteria to mitigate methane emissionsin vitro

“…They have been used as a DFM for ruminants in the past to improve energy metabolism and increase milk production (Stein et al, 2006;Aleman et al, 2007), weight gain, and feed efficiency (Swinney-Floyd et al, 1999;Lehloenya et al, 2008), and decrease the incidence of acidosis (Parrott et al, 1997;Ghorbani et al, 2002).…”

Effects of feeding yeast and propionibacteria to dairy cows on milk yield and components, and reproduction*

“…Estimates by Seal and Reynolds (1993) indicate that propionate supplies 32–73% of glucose demands. Although feeding Propionibacteria strain 169 (P169) to Holstein dairy cows alters metabolism (Francisco et al., 2002; Aleman et al., 2007) and increases milk production (Stein et al., 2006), the acute temporal effect of feeding P169 on insulin and glucose secretion have not been evaluated.…”