Associations between prepartum albumin-to-globulin ratio and inflammation, energy metabolism, behavior, disease, and milking performance in transition dairy cows

報告時間：2025-6-20
報告地點：Room 407
指導老師：Chien-Kai Wang
學生：Bo-Shiang Juang
摘要

Dairy cows undergo substantial physiological and immune adaptations during the transition period, and failure to maintain energy balance or control inflammation may lead to health risks. The albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR), an indicator associated with inflammation and liver function, is widely used in human medicine; however, its relevance in dairy cows remains underexplored. In this study, cows were classified into a high AGR group (H-AGR, AGR > 1) and a low AGR group (L-AGR, AGR ≤ 1) based on the median albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR) at 14 days before calving. Health status, physiological parameters, behavioral patterns, and milking performance were evaluated in both groups at prepartum days −14 and −7, and postpartum days 0, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 21. H-AGR cows maintained higher AGR values at pre- and postpartum, but albumin concentrations were not different at postpartum. H-AGR cows had higher rectal temperatures and tended to have lower serum cholesterol levels. Body condition scores were significantly higher in H-AGR cows before and after calving. Postpartum BHBA levels were elevated, and NEFA concentrations were significantly higher in primiparous H-AGR cows, indicating greater metabolic stress. Leukocyte analysis showed increased monocyte and WBC counts in H-AGR cows, with postpartum levels significantly higher. This aligns with reports that cows with mastitis exhibit monocyte elevation and increased milk expression of monocyte chemoattractant genes. Although disease incidence did not differ significantly between groups, H-AGR cows showed increased activity time and reduced feeding and eating times, possibly indicating compromised health status. Compared with L-AGR cows, H-AGR cows exhibited a lower milk yield and a higher coefficient of variation (CV) of milk electrical conductivity (0.033 ± 0.002 vs. 0.024 ± 0.001), which may suggest an increased risk of mastitis. In this study, globulin levels showed greater variation than albumin during the transition period, making changes more noticeable. Prepartum globulin below 3 g/dL has been linked to higher health risks; H-AGR cows had a mean of 2.981 ± 0.075 g/dL, suggesting possible immunoglobulin deficiency. Cows with stronger humoral immunity also tend to have lower mastitis risk. Thus, a higher prepartum AGR may reflect insufficient immune readiness and metabolic imbalance, and should be interpreted cautiously in transition cow health assessments.
Keywords: Dairy cows, Transition period, Albumin-to-globulin ratio, Inflammatory response, Negative energy balance, Automatic milking system
參考文獻
  • Ceciliani, F., J. Ceron, P. Eckersall, and H. Sauerwein. 2012. Acute phase proteins in ruminants. Journal of proteomics 75(14):4207-4231.
  • Chorfi, Y., A. Lanevschi‐Pietersma, V. Girard, and A. Tremblay. 2004. Evaluation of variation in serum globulin concentrations in dairy cattle. Veterinary Clinical Pathology 33(3):122-127.
  • Kraevskiy, A., V. Yefimov, V. Stefanyk, S. Vlasenko, and T. Basarab. 2022. Relationship between globulins in the late dry period with biochemical parameters, fertility and culling of cows within 90 days after calving. 
  • LeBlanc, S. 2006. Monitoring programs for transition dairy cows. In: Proceedings of the 26th World Biuatrics Congress, Nice. p 460-472.
  • Loor, J. J., H. M. Dann, R. E. Everts, R. Oliveira, C. A. Green, N. A. J. Guretzky, S. L. Rodriguez-Zas, H. A. Lewin, and J. K. Drackley. 2005. Temporal gene expression profiling of liver from periparturient dairy cows reveals complex adaptive mechanisms in hepatic function. Physiological genomics 23(2):217-226.
  • Norberg, E., H. Hogeveen, I. R. Korsgaard, N. Friggens, K. Sloth, and P. Løvendahl. 2004. Electrical conductivity of milk: ability to predict mastitis status. Journal of dairy science 87(4):1099-1107.
  • Schirmann, K., D. Weary, W. Heuwieser, N. Chapinal, R. Cerri, and M. Von Keyserlingk. 2016. Rumination and feeding behaviors differ between healthy and sick dairy cows during the transition period. Journal of dairy science 99(12):9917-9924.
  • Sheldon, I. M., G. S. Lewis, S. LeBlanc, and R. O. Gilbert. 2006. Defining postpartum uterine disease in cattle. Theriogenology 65(8):1516-1530.
  • Sun, X., Y. Hou, Y. Wang, C. Guo, Q. Wang, Y. Zhang, Z. Yang, Z. Wang, Z. Cao, and W. Wang. 2022. The blood immune cell count, immunoglobulin, inflammatory factor, and milk trace element in transition cows and calves were altered by increasing the dietary n-3 or n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels. Frontiers in Immunology 13:897660.
  • Thompson-Crispi, K. A., F. Miglior, and B. A. Mallard. 2013. Incidence rates of clinical mastitis among Canadian Holsteins classified as high, average, or low immune responders. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology 20(1):106-112.
  • Trevisi, E., and A. Minuti. 2018. Assessment of the innate immune response in the periparturient cow. Research in Veterinary Science 116:47-54.
  • Vertiprakhov, V., M. Selionova, V. Malorodov, G. Y. Laptev, and L. Ilyina. 2023. Milk trypsin clear increases under bovine mastitis simultaneously with inflammation gene expression. Sel'skokhozyaistvennaya biologiya [Agricultural Biology] 58(4):685-699.