Proportion of concentrate in the diet of early lactation dairy cows has contrasting effects on circulating leukocyte global transcriptomic profiles, health and fertility according to parity

Cheng, Zhangrui; McLaughlin, Danielle; Little, Mark; Ferris, Conrad; Salavati, Mazdak; Ingvartsen, Klaus; Crowe, Mark; Wathes, D Claire

Abstract

The functionality of circulating leukocytes in dairy cows is suppressed after calving, with negative energy balance as a risk factor. Leukocyte transcriptomic profiles were compared separately in 44 multiparous (MP) and 18 primiparous (PP) Holstein–Friesian cows receiving diets differing in concentrate proportion to test whether immune dysfunction could be mitigated by appropriate nutrition. After calving, cows were offered either (1) low concentrate (LC); (2) medium concentrate (MC) or (3) high concentrate (HC) diets with proportions of concentrate to grass silage of 30%:70%, 50%:50% and 70%:30%, respectively. Cow phenotype data collected included circulating metabolites, milk yield and health and fertility records. RNA sequencing of circulating leukocytes at 14 days in milk was performed. The HC diet improved energy balance in both age groups. There were more differentially expressed genes in PP than MP cows (460 vs. 173, HC vs. LC comparison) with few overlaps. The MP cows on the LC diet showed upregulation of the complement and coagulation cascade and innate immune defence mechanisms against pathogens and had a trend of more cases of mastitis and poorer fertility. In contrast, the PP cows on the HC diet showed greater immune responses based on both gene expression and phenotypic data and longer interval of calving to conception. The leukocytes of MP and PP cows therefore responded differentially to the diets between age, nutrient supply and immunity affecting their health and subsequent fertility.

Citation

Cheng, Z., McLaughlin, D., Little, M., Ferris, C., Salavati, M., Ingvartsen, K., …Wathes, D. C. (2022). Proportion of concentrate in the diet of early lactation dairy cows has contrasting effects on circulating leukocyte global transcriptomic profiles, health and fertility according to parity. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24010039

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 16, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Dec 20, 2022
• Publication Date: Dec 20, 2022
• Deposit Date: Nov 28, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 21, 2022
• Journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Print ISSN: 1661-6596
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24010039