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Physiologic, health and production responses of dairy cows supplemented with an immunomodulatory feed ingredient during the transition period
This study compared physiological, health, and productive parameters in dairy cows supplemented or not with Omnigen-AF during the transition period. Thirty-eight non-lactating, multiparous, pregnant Holstein × Gir cows were ranked by BW and BCS, and assigned to receive (n = 19) or not (CON; n = 19) OMN at 56 g/cow daily (as-fed basis) beginning 35 d prior to calving. Before calving, cows had ad libitum access to corn silage, and received (as-fed basis) 3 kg/cow daily of concentrate. After calving, cows were milked twice daily, offered (as-fed basis) 35 kg/cow daily of corn silage, and individually received a concentrate formulated to meet their nutritional requirements. Cows received OMN individually as top-dressing into the morning concentrate feeding. Before calving, cow BW and BCS were recorded weekly and blood samples collected every 5 d beginning on d -35 relative to calving. After calving and until 46 days in milk (DIM), BW and BCS were recorded weekly, individual milk production was recorded and milk samples were collected daily. Blood was sampled daily from 0 to 7 DIM, every other day from 9 to 21 DIM, and every 5 d from 26 to 46 DIM. On 30 and 46 DIM, cows were evaluated for endometritis via cytobrush technique, based on % of polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells in 100 total cell count (PMN + endometrial cells). On 48.7 ± 1.6 DIM, 9 cows/treatment received a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection (0.25 μg/kg of BW), and blood was sampled hourly from -2 to 8 h, at 12-h intervals from 12 to 72 h, and at 24-h intervals form 96 to 120 h relative to LPS administration. No treatment differences were detected on BW, BCS, and serum concentrations of cortisol, NEFA, insulin, glucose, haptoglobin, cortisol, and IGF-I (P ≥ 0.15). Cows receiving OMN had greater (P ≤ 0.04) milk yield (30.3 vs. 27.1 kg/d; SEM = 0.9) and percentage of PMN cells in endometrial cell population (12.2 vs. 3.9%; SEM = 2.9) compared with CON cows. After LPS administration, cows receiving OMN had greater (P ≤ 0.04) mean serum haptoglobin (212 vs. 94 µg/mL; SEM = 38) and serum concentration of tumor necrosis factor alpha at 1, 2, and 3 h relative to LPS injection compared with CON cows. In conclusion, OMN supplementation during the transition period enhanced innate immunity parameters and increased milk production in dairy cows.
Keywords: Inflammation, milk production, Omnigen-AF, transition cows