Differentiation of Subclinical Ketosis and Liver Function Test Indices in Adipose Tissues Associated With Hyperketonemia in Postpartum Dairy Cattle

Muhammad Ali Mohsin; Huiru Yu; Rongze He; Peng Wang; Linli Gan; Yulan Du; Yunfei Huang; Muhammad Bakhsh Abro; Sarmad Sohaib; Mariusz Pierzchala; Przemysław Sobiech; Klaudia Miętkiewska; Chandra S Pareek; Bao Xiang He

doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.796494

Differentiation of Subclinical Ketosis and Liver Function Test Indices in Adipose Tissues Associated With Hyperketonemia in Postpartum Dairy Cattle

Front Vet Sci. 2022 Feb 3:8:796494. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.796494. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Muhammad Ali Mohsin¹, Huiru Yu^{1

2}, Rongze He¹, Peng Wang¹, Linli Gan¹, Yulan Du¹, Yunfei Huang³, Muhammad Bakhsh Abro⁴, Sarmad Sohaib⁴, Mariusz Pierzchala⁵, Przemysław Sobiech⁶, Klaudia Miętkiewska^{7

8}, Chandra S Pareek^{7

8}, Bao Xiang He¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China.
² Shanghai Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center, Shanghai, China.
³ School of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University, Guangdong, China.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Science, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water, and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Genomics and Biodiversity, Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzebiec, Poland.
⁶ Internal Disease Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland.
⁷ Department of Basic and Preclinical Sciences, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland.
⁸ Division of Functional Genomics in Biological and Biomedical Research, Centre for Modern Interdisciplinary Technologies, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland.

Abstract

Past studies suggested that during early lactation and the transition period, higher plasma growth hormone (GH) levels in subclinical ketosis (SCK) might involve the initiation of body adipose tissues mobilization, resulting in metabolic disorders in ruminants particularly hyperketonemia. The upregulated GH mRNA expression in adipose tissue may take part in the adipolysis process in SCK-affected cows that paves a way for study further. This study aimed to characterize the plasma levels of GH, β-hydroxybutyrate acid (BHBA) and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) and glucose (GLu) in ketotic cows and healthy control (CON) cows; to measure the liver function test (LFT) indices in ketotic and healthy CON cows, and finally the quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assay of candidate genes expressed in adipose tissues of ketotic and healthy CON cows during 0 to 7 week postpartum. Three experiments were conducted. Experiment-1 involved 21 Holstein cows weighing 500-600 kg with 2-5 parities. Results showed that GH, BHBA, and NEFA levels in ketotic cows were significantly higher and the GLu level significantly lower. Pearson's correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation of GH with BHBA, NEFA, and GLu in ketotic and healthy CON cows. In experiment-2, dynamic monitoring of LFT indices namely, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (DBIL), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), globulin (GLOB) and albumin/globulin (A/G) were examined. The TBIL, DBIL, and GGT indices were significantly higher in ketotic cows and TP was significantly lower. In experiment-3, mRNA expression levels of GHR and peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) genes in adipose tissue were significantly upregulated in ketotic cows. However, the mRNA expression of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-1R), and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) genes in adipose tissue were downregulated in ketotic cows. Our study concluded that during postpartum, higher plasma GH levels in SCK cows might involve the initiation of body adipose tissue mobilization, resulting in hyperketonemia.

Keywords: adipose tissue; dairy cow; growth hormone; hyperketonemia; subclinical ketosis.