Role of nutraceuticals during the transition period of dairy cows: a review

Abstract

The transition period of dairy cattle is characterized by a number of metabolic, endocrine, physiologic, and immune adaptations, including the occurrence of negative energy balance, hypocalcemia, liver dysfunction, overt systemic inflammatory response, and oxidative stress status. The degree and length of time during which these systems remain out of balance could render cows more susceptible to disease, poor reproductive outcomes, and less efficient for milk production and quality. Studies on both monogastrics and ruminants have reported the health benefits of nutraceuticals (e.g. probiotics, prebiotics, dietary lipids, functional peptides, phytoextracts) beyond nutritional value, interacting at different levels of the animal's physiology. From a physiological standpoint, it seems unrealistic to disregard any systemic inflammatory processes. However, an alternate approach is to modulate the inflammatory process per se and to resolve the systemic response as quickly as possible. To this aim, a growing body of literature underscores the efficacy of nutraceuticals (active compounds) during the critical phase of the transition period. Supplementation of essential fatty acids throughout a 2-month period (i.e. a month before and a month after calving) successfully attenuates the inflammatory status with a quicker resolution of phenomenon. In this context, the inflammatory and immune response scenario has been recognized to be targeted by the beneficial effect of methyl donors, such as methionine and choline, directly and indirectly modulating such response with the increase of antioxidants GSH and taurine. Indirectly by the establishment of a healthy gastrointestinal tract, yeast and yeast-based products showed to modulate the immune response, mitigating negative effects associated with parturition stress and consequent disorders. The use of phytoproducts has garnered high interest because of their wide range of actions on multiple tissue targets encompassing a series of antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, immune-stimulating, rumen fermentation, and microbial modulation effects. In this review, we provide perspectives on investigations of regulating the immune responses and metabolism using several nutraceuticals in the periparturient cow.

An Exploration of the Effects of an Early Postpartum Intravenous Infusion with Carnosic Acid on Physiological Responses of Transition Dairy Cows

“…Several studies have recently evaluated the effects of plant-based bioactive compounds with antioxidants properties as alternatives to conventionally available forms. In terms of animal productivity, performance responses when supplementing alternative plant-based antioxidants are not consistent among studies, most likely due to different properties of compounds, doses, animal species, among others [ 26 , 58 ]. For example, Oh, et al [ 59 ] observed that oxidative stress markers were not affected when supplementing lactating dairy cows with Capsicum oleoresin.…”

“…Vitamin E and selenium are the most widely used antioxidants included in dairy cattle diets, especially in the form of premixes added to the total mixed ration [ 11 ]. However, in the last few decades, there has been an increased interest in studying alternative natural compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as supplements for food-producing animals [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Besides being a source of antioxidants in the final products for the human diet, those natural compounds have the added benefit of being positively perceived by consumers [ 22 , 27 ].…”

Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period

“…Among the dietary supplements tested, only choline and propylene glycol repeatedly reduced liver triglycerides. The role of nutraceuticals during the transition period of dairy cows has been reviewed by Lopreiato and colleagues [ 124 ] elsewhere. Management strategies such as feeding one diet during the entire dry period and shortening the dry period have been proposed, but the current available data are insufficient to assess the effectiveness of such strategies in reducing lipid accumulation in the liver [ 82 ].…”

Effects of peripartal yeast culture supplementation on lactation performance, blood biomarkers, rumen fermentation, and rumen bacteria species in dairy cows

“…The adverse effects of NEB, such as reduced feed intake, severe body fat mobilization, and production of reactive oxygen species, among others, can severely impair immune cell response (Trevisi and Minuti, 2018). Yeast products and yeast-containing feed ingredients can be used as a nutritional feed additive to improve health and performance during the transition between pregnancy and early lactation (Roche et al, 2013;Lopreiato et al, 2020).…”

“…The beneficial effects of different live yeast or yeast culture-based products have been reported on the performance of dairy cows supplemented throughout the transition period or during early lactation only (Dann et al, 2000;Nocek et al, 2011;Shi et al, 2019a). These effects have been further described in terms of rumen characteristics (Al Ibrahim et al, 2010;Bach et al, 2019), metabolic profile (Zaworski et al, 2014;Faccio-Demarco et al, 2019;Olagaray et al, 2019), and immune system function (Yuan et al, 2015b;Knoblock et al, 2019;Lopreiato et al, 2020). However, these cumulative data on yeast supplementation across transition cow studies are inconsistent and might be associated with the wide variety of configurations of yeast cultures or yeast fermentation metabolites used in such studies.…”