Metabolic and inflammatory responses reveal different adaptation to the transition period challenges in Holstein, Brown Swiss, and Simmental dairy cows

Figures & data

Table 1. Diets offered to the cows during the study.

Item^a	Lactating cows	Dry cows
Diet, % DM
Grass hay	25.10	50.00
Alfalfa hay	25.00	‒
Straw	‒	20.70
Corn grain ground dry	19.10	‒
Corn grain flaked	5.12	3.51
Barley flaked	4.16	‒
Soybean meal	‒	4.97
Soybean flaked	3.50	‒
Beet molasses	2.73	2.94
Flaxseed	1.81	‒
Flaxseed meal	3.54	3.64
Beet sugar pulp dry	1.39	‒
Soy hulls	1.41	10.80
Supplement^b	1.88	3.00
Chemical Composition
NEL, Mcal kg of DM^−1	1.59	1.30
Crude protein, % DM	15.10	12.30
Starch + sugar, % DM	27.80	17.90
Ether extract, % DM	3.28	2.50
NDF, % DM	34.80	49.60
MP, % CP	10.70	8.50
RUP, % DM	5.50	3.80

^aDM is dry matter; NE_L is net energy for lactation; NDF is neutral detergent fibre; CP is crude protein; MP is metabolisable protein and RUP is rumen undegradable protein (both estimated using NRC 2001).

^bLactating cows’ supplement contained 15.5% Ca, 2.8% P, 9% Na, 7.5% Mg, 400,000 IU/kg of vitamin A, 100,000 IU/kg of vitamin D, 2.000 mg/kg of vitamin E, 50 mg/kg of vitamin K, 110 mg/kg of vitamin B1, 1.2 mg/kg of vitamin B12, 4.200 mg/kg of vitamin PP, 5.200 mg/kg of choline, 3.350 mg/kg of Mn, 7.500 mg/kg of Zn, 2.400 mg/kg of Cu, 400 mg/kg of I, 30 mg/kg Se.

Dry cows’ supplement contained 3.5% Ca, 4.0% P, 1,5% Na, 5.0% Mg, 200,000 IU/kg of vitamin A, 50,000 IU/kg of vitamin D, 2.800 mg/kg of vitamin E, 100 mg/kg of vitamin K, 350 mg/kg of vitamin B1, 3 mg/kg of vitamin B12, 3.500 mg/kg of vitamin PP, 4.500 mg/kg of choline, 1.000 mg/kg of Mn, 2.800 mg/kg of Zn, 150 mg/kg of Cu, 100 mg/kg of I, 12 mg/kg Se.

Figure 1. Values of body condition score (BCS; a) and milk yield (b) from −21 to 28 d from calving (DFC) in Holstein (HOL), Brown Swiss (BRO), and Simmental (SIM) dairy cows managed identically. Br is the breed effect, Time is the time effect, and Br × Time is the interaction effect (superscript letters denote differences for p < .05 at each time point in pairwise comparisons). Time points consider single days for BCS and weekly averages for milk yield.

Table 2. Plasma concentrations from −21 to 28 d from calving of biomarkers of metabolism, minerals, liver function, inflammation, and oxidative status in Holstein (HOL), Brown Swiss (BRO), and Simmental (SIM) dairy cows managed identically.

	Breed^b				p-value^d
Item^a, unit	HOL	BRO	SIM	SEM^c	Br	Time	Br × Time
PCV, L/L	0.34	0.33	0.36	0.01	.22	<.01	.38
Metabolism
Glucose, mmol/L	4.14	4.05	4.21	0.08	.39	<.01	.16
Fructosamine, µmol/L	295^b	299^a^,^b	311^a	4.30	.03	<.01	.32
NEFA, mmol/L	0.45	0.51	0.53	0.06	.60	<.01	.88
BHB, mmol/L	0.44^b	0.56^a	0.49^a^,^b	0.03	.04	<.01	.14
Urea, mmol/L	4.06	4.38	4.33	0.33	.72	<.01	.18
Creatinine, µmol/L	95.50^b	99.40^a^,^b	108.30^a	2.31	<.010	<.01	.87
Minerals
Ca, mmol/L	2.49	2.49	2.47	0.03	.88	<.01	.68
P, mmol/L	1.73^b	1.61^b	1.92^a	0.07	.01	<.01	.02
Mg, mmol/L	0.96	0.92	0.97	0.02	.25	<.01	.18
Na, mmol/L	146	147	146	0.73	.72	<.01	.68
K, mmol/L	4.31	4.21	4.26	0.07	.56	.34	.85
Cl, mmol/L	106	107	106	0.71	.36	<.01	.81
Zn, µmol/L	11.40	12.10	11.30	0.49	.44	<.01	.22
Liver function
Bilirubin, µmol/L	3.38^b	5.28^a	3.95^a^,^b	0.56	.04	<.01	<.01
AST-GOT, U/L	101.60^a	150.80^b	90.30^a	14.60	.01	<.01	.09
GGT, U/L	22.00^a	37.20^b	19.60^a	5.12	.04	.39	.70
Alkaline phosphatase, U/L	59.40	47.90	56.20	8.42	.58	.02	.11
Inflammation
Total protein, g/L	79.70^a	76.30^b	82.50^a	1.16	<.01	<.01	.88
Albumin, g/L	35.00	34.70	36.20	0.61	.20	.01	.38
Globulin, g/L	44.60	41.60	46.20	1.49	.10	<.01	.91
Haptoglobin, g/L	0.40	0.44	0.39	0.05	.76	<.01	.30
Ceruloplasmin, µmol/L	2.65^a	3.33^b	2.37^c	0.10	<.01	<.01	<.01
IL-1β, pg/mL	309	1212	247	488	.30	.06	.23
IL-6, pg/mL	592	1094	458	242	.16	.02	.22
Myeloperoxidase, U/L	431	478	448	19.40	.21	.02	.41
Cholesterol, mmol/L	3.91^a	3.40^a^,^b	3.20^b	0.22	.04	<.01	.86
Paraoxonase, U/mL	84.20^a	67.40^b	73.20^a^,^b	5.20	.05	<.01	.06
Oxidative status
Thiol groups, µmol/L	313	318	3340	13.90	.51	.31	.72
FRAP, µmol/L	176	155	1530	20.90	.64	.29	.74
ROMt, mg H2O2/100 mL	20.70^b	23.90^a	20.10^b	1.06	.03	<.01	.02

^aPCV is packed cell volume, NEFA is nonesterified fatty acids, BHB is β-hydroxybutyrate, AST-GOT is glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase, GGT is γ-glutamyl transferase, IL-1β is interleukin-1β, IL-6 is interleukin-6, FRAP is ferric ion reducing antioxidant power, ROMt is total reactive oxygen metabolites.

^bWithin a row, means without a common superscript differ for p < .05.

^cStandard error = greatest standard error of the means among breeds.

^dOverall effects of Breed (Br), Time, and their interaction (Br × Time).

Figure 2. Trends from −21 to 28 d from calving (DFC) of plasma concentrations of P (a), bilirubin (b), glutamate-oxalacetate transaminase (AST-GOT) (c), ceruloplasmin (d), paraoxonase (e), and reactive oxygen metabolites (f) in Holstein (HOL), Brown Swiss (BRO), and Simmental (SIM) dairy cows managed identically. Br is the breed effect, Time is the time effect, and Br × Time is the interaction effect (superscript letters denote differences for p < .05 at each time point in pairwise comparisons).

Table 3. Fold changes of cytokines following a whole blood stimulation assay from blood collected 3 d after calving in Holstein (HOL), Brown Swiss (BRO), and Simmental (SIM) dairy cows managed identically.

	Breed^a				p-value
Item, unit	HOL	BRO	SIM	SEM^b
Interleukin-6, pg/mL	3.63	2.86	2.95	0.64	.55
Interleukin-1β, pg/mL	45.30^a	16.90^b	15.20^b	9.30	.01

^aWithin a row, means without a common superscript differ for p < .05.

^bSEM: greatest standard error of the means among breeds.

National Research Council (NRC). 2001. Nutrient requirement of dairy cattle. 7th ed. Washington, (DC): National Academies Press.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.