Effects of probiotic supplementation on milk production, blood metabolite profile and enzyme activities of ewes during lactation

Figures & data

Table 1. Effects of supplementing ewes with probiotics on milk yield and composition.

		Week of lactation (WOL)				Probability
Parameter	Treatment (T)	4	8	12	SEM	T	WOL	T × WOL
Yield, g/d	CON	453^A	366^A,B	312^B^,^b	20.1	0.14	0.22	<0.01
	PRO	448	449	503^a
FPCM,^1 g/d	CON	374	350	348^b	21.2	0.12	<0.05	<0.01
	PRO	347^C	453^B	550^A^,^a
Fat
%	CON	4.00^B	5.43^B	7.39^A	0.330	0.98	<0.001	0.25
	PRO	3.25^B	6.22^A	7.40^A
g/d	CON	17.8	19.2	22.2^b	1.61	0.16	<0.001	<0.01
	PRO	14.2^C	26.6^B	34.8^A^,^a
Protein
%	CON	6.59^B^,^b	7.03^A	6.85^A	0.061	0.49	0.30	<0.01
	PRO	7.09^a	6.90	6.87
g/d	CON	29.9^A	24.9^A^,^B	20.3^B^,^b	1.28	0.10	0.18	<0.05
	PRO	30.8	29.9	33.1^a
Lactose
%	CON	4.62^A^,^b	4.63^A	4.58^B	0.007	0.17	<0.001	<0.01
	PRO	4.67^A^,^a	4.61^A	4.58^B
g/d	CON	20.3^A	16.4^A^,^B	13.9^B^,^b	0.90	0.13	0.15	<0.01
	PRO	20.3	20.1	22.4^a

¹ Fat and protein corrected milk according to Pulina and Nudda (2004).

^A,B,C For each parameter, within each treatment, least squares means without a common superscript are significantly different (p<.05) between weeks of lactation.

^a,b For each parameter, within each week of lactation, least squares means without a common superscript are significantly different (p<.05) between treatments.

SEM: standard error of the mean; CON: diet without probiotics; PRO: diet supplemented with two grams of PrimaLac^® probiotics.

Table 2. Effects of supplementing ewes with probiotics on blood plasma metabolite concentration (mg/dL) and enzyme activities (U/L).

		Week of lactation (WOL)				Probability
Parameter	Treatment (T)	4	8	12	SEM	T	WOL	T × WOL
Glucose	CON	60.7^A,B	65.6^A	59.2^B	1.15	0.81	<0.001	0.95
	PRO	61.5^B	67.0^A	59.6^B
Urea	CON	23.1^B	36.5^A	27.1^B	1.36	0.93	<0.001	0.09
	PRO	18.8^C	36.5^A	30.9^B
Creatinine	CON	0.59^B	0.77^A	0.80^A	0.023	0.63	<0.001	0.43
	PRO	0.58^B	0.81^A	0.84^A
Uric acid	CON	0.15^B	0.14^B	0.18^A	0.006	0.93	<0.05	0.10
	PRO	0.13	0.16	0.16
Cholesterol	CON	56.8^B	63.8^A	64.4^A	1.65	0.88	<0.001	0.27
	PRO	54.6^B	65.2^A	68.3^A
HDL	CON	36.2^B	39.9^A	37.7^A^,^B	1.09	0.78	<0.01	0.26
	PRO	35.2^B	41.2^A	40.5^A
LDL	CON	14.7^B	19.3^A	20.4^A	0.72	0.96	<0.001	0.62
	PRO	13.8^B	19.7^A	21.1^A
Triglycerides	CON	25.8^A	25.6^A	17.3^B	0.82	0.35	<0.001	0.81
	PRO	23.8^A	24.7^A	16.3^B
AST	CON	109.0	99.8	98.0^b	9.44	0.06	<0.01	<0.01
	PRO	94.0^B	105^B	209.0^A^,^a
ALT	CON	14.7	16.3	13.2	0.75	0.31	0.07	0.91
	PRO	16.8	18.5	16.2
ALP	CON	221^B	211^B	261^A	15.1	0.43	<0.01	0.61
	PRO	166^B	171^B	234^A
LDH	CON	533	539	516	16.6	0.78	<0.01	0.48
	PRO	524^A	524^A	488^B

^A,B,C For each parameter, within each treatment, least squares means without a common superscript are significantly different (p<.05) between weeks of lactation.

^a,b For each parameter, within each week of lactation, least squares means without a common superscript are significantly different (p<.05) between treatments.

HDL: h igh density lipoprotein; LDL: low density lipoprotein; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; LDH: lactate dehydrogenase; SEM: standard error of the mean; CON: diet without probiotics; PRO: diet supplemented with two grams of PrimaLac^® probiotics.

Pulina G, Nudda A. 2004. Milk production. In: Pulina G, Bencini R, editors. Dairy sheep nutrition. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing; p. 1–12.

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