Changes in the Spectrum of Free Fatty Acids in Blood Serum of Dairy Cows during a Prolonged Summer Heat Wave

Roman Mylostyvyi; Veerasamy Sejian; Olena Izhboldina; Olena Kalinichenko; Lina Karlova; Olena Lesnovskay; Natalia Begma; Oleh Marenkov; Vadym Lykhach; Svitlana Midyk; Nikolay Cherniy; Bogdan Gutyj; Gundula Hoffmann

doi:10.3390/ani11123391

Changes in the Spectrum of Free Fatty Acids in Blood Serum of Dairy Cows during a Prolonged Summer Heat Wave

Animals (Basel). 2021 Nov 27;11(12):3391. doi: 10.3390/ani11123391.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Products Processing Technology, Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University, S. Efremov Str. 25, 49600 Dnipro, Ukraine.
² National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Adugodi, Bangalore 560030, India.
³ Department of Livestock Production Technology, Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University, S. Efremov Str. 25, 49600 Dnipro, Ukraine.
⁴ Department of Animal Feeding and Breeding Technology, Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University, S. Efremov Str. 25, 49600 Dnipro, Ukraine.
⁵ Department of General Biology and Water Bioresources, Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, Gagarin av., 72, 49010 Dnipro, Ukraine.
⁶ Department of Technologies in Poultry, Pig and Sheep Breeding, Faculty of Livestock Raising and Water Bioresources, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Heroiv Oborony St. 12-b, Building 7-a, of. 215, 03041 Kyiv, Ukraine.
⁷ Ukrainian Laboratory of Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Heroiv Oborony Street, 15, 03041 Kyiv, Ukraine.
⁸ Department of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Sanitation, State Biotechnological University, Alchevskykh Street, 44, 61002 Kharkiv, Ukraine.
⁹ Department of Hygiene, Sanitation and General Veterinary Prevention, Faculty of public development and health, Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies Lviv, Pekarska Str., 50, 79010 Lviv, Ukraine.
¹⁰ Department of Engineering for Livestock Management, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany.

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of a prolonged hot period on the fatty acid (FA) composition in blood serum of dairy cows. Eighteen multiparous Holstein cows were randomly assigned to the hyperthermia group (HYP, n = 8) in August (summer season) and the control group (CON, n = 10) in October (autumn season). Blood from animals of the HYP group was collected in one heat wave, which was preceded by a long period of heat stress (HS, temperature-humidity index (THI ≥ 72)). Blood from cows of the CON group was collected under thermal comfort conditions (THI < 68). The spectrum of free fatty acids (FFA) in the blood serum was analyzed by gas chromatography. The concentration of FFA increased, including saturated FAs and monounsaturated FAs, in the blood serum of cows under conditions of prolonged HS. This was associated with the mobilization of FA into the bloodstream from adipose tissue, as a consequence of negative energy balance. An increase in the ratio of n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated FAs may indicate biomembrane dysfunction and adversely affect dairy cows. This study showed that prolonged periods of heat can affect the FA composition of blood. How much this leads to changes in the FA composition of milk and the quality of food products remains to be seen in further research.

Keywords: blood serum; dairy cow; free fatty acids; heat stress.