Dataset Information

Changes of the erythrocyte phenotype and blood biochemistry in dairy calves during the first ten weeks of age.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bovine erythrocytes undergo important changes in their morphology and chemical composition during the first weeks of age, which must be understood to accurately interpret hematology results in calves. The objectives of this prospective cohort study were to describe physiological changes of calf erythrocytes and to investigate mechanisms potentially causing these changes.

Methods

Blood samples from 30 clinically healthy dairy calves were obtained from birth to the tenth week of age in weekly intervals. Hematological and plasma biochemical parameters as well as the mineral electrolyte content of erythrocytes were determined and followed over time. The changes of parameters characterizing the erythrocyte phenotype over time were compared to the changes of plasma and erythrocyte biochemical parameters and possible associations were investigated using correlation and stepwise regression analyses.

Results

Although the erythrocyte mean corpuscular volume (MCV) declined from 43.6 ± 3.7 fL to 35.6 ± 3.2 fL between the first and seventh week, the red blood cell count (RBC) increased from 7.2 ± 1.1 × 10¹²/L to 9.3 ± 1.0 × 10¹²/L until the fifth week of age. The blood hemoglobin (Hb) concentration increased from 0.96 ± 0.16 g/L to 1.16 ± 0.11 g/L in the first three weeks of age and remained at this level until the end of the study. Changes in MCV were accompanied by a decline of the erythrocyte potassium content (K_ERY) from 91.9 ± 13.5 to 24.6 ± 7.2 mmol/L and a concomitant increase of the erythrocyte sodium content from 45.0 ± 32.0 to 102.7 ± 26.5 mmol/L. MCV was found to be associated with K_ERY, the primary determinant of the intra-erythrocyte osmotic pressure from the sixth week of age and with blood hemoglobin, the primary determinant of the intra-erythrocyte oncotic pressure from the eighth week of age, when K_ERY, blood Hb and MCV already had reached or approached normal levels of adult cattle. The plasma iron concentration was not found to be associated to any of the studied hematological parameters.

Conclusion

A volume reduction of 20% in bovine neonatal erythrocytes is a physiological change occurring during the first weeks of age and is neither associated with sideropenia nor with anemia in healthy calves. The mechanism driving the observed erythrocyte volume change could not be identified. Results of the correlation and regression analyses indicate that changes in intra-erythrocyte osmotic or oncotic pressure are improbable underlying causes. Results reported here show that K_ERY is an unreliable indicator for the K homeostasis of the intracellular space in neonatal calves and that a decrease in MCV in early life per-se is an unreliable indicator for the development of microcytic anemia.

SUBMITTER: Golbeck L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6640622 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Changes of the erythrocyte phenotype and blood biochemistry in dairy calves during the first ten weeks of age.

Golbeck Lennart L Cohrs Imke I Scheu Theresa T Grünberg Walter W

PeerJ 20190716

<h4>Background</h4>Bovine erythrocytes undergo important changes in their morphology and chemical composition during the first weeks of age, which must be understood to accurately interpret hematology results in calves. The objectives of this prospective cohort study were to describe physiological changes of calf erythrocytes and to investigate mechanisms potentially causing these changes.<h4>Methods</h4>Blood samples from 30 clinically healthy dairy calves were obtained from birth to the tenth ...[more]

PMID: 31341734

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Project description:BackgroundNursing and sucking are essential for adequate nourishment of preweaned calves and the relationship between sucking indices has not been studied. The goal of this study was to investigate the number of sucks per litre of milk and per minute of drinking and the amount of milk ingested per suck in healthy preweaned calves. Correlation coefficients were calculated for the relationships between these variables. Eighteen healthy calves were used from birth to 5 weeks of age, and five measurements were made at the end of weeks 1 to 5. The calves were randomly divided into three groups and offered milk twice daily in a bucket with a rubber nipple. The amount of milk offered per day was equal to 12% of body weight in group A and 16% of body weight in group B. Calves in group C were offered as much milk as they wanted during each feeding period. The duration of drinking was determined with a stopwatch, and the number of sucks was counted with a handheld tally counter. The variables drinking duration, total amount consumed and the number of sucks required were used to calculate the number of sucks/min, the number of sucks/L, the amount ingested per suck and drinking speed.ResultsThe number of sucks/min ranged from 113 to 133 and increased significantly during the study period. The mean number of sucks/L decreased from 204 in week 1 to 141 in week 5 and drinking speed increased from 0.6 to 1.0 L/min. There were significant correlations between the number of sucks/L of milk and the amount of milk ingested per suck, drinking duration, total amount consumed and drinking speed. Drinking speed was positively correlated with the amount of milk ingested per suck and the total amount of milk consumed, and negatively correlated with drinking duration.ConclusionsThese findings show that drinking variables of calves offered different amounts of milk vary little and significant changes occur during the same period with respect to the number of sucks/L of milk and the amount of milk ingested per suck. Several drinking variables are significantly correlated with other variables.

Project description:This study aimed to examine the use of non-invasive monitoring technologies as a means of capturing behavioural, physiological and health responses of calves allocated to different nutritional regimes. Seventy-four Holstein Friesian calves were individually penned and allocated to receive either high (HML) or conventional (CML) milk replacer (MR) levels between 5-70 days of age. Additionally calves were allocated to one of four forage treatments: (i) chopped straw offered between 14-70 days of age (CS14), (ii) chopped straw offered between 56-70 days of age (CS56), (iii) grass silage offered between 56-70 days of age (GS56), and (iv) no forage in the pre-wean period (NF). A representative sample of calves from each treatment were fitted with activity sensors and heart rate monitors throughout the experimental period to examine lying behaviour and heart rate variability, respectively. Thermal images of the eye and rectal area of each calf were taken 5 days/week between 5-77 days of age. Faecal and respiratory scoring of each individual calf was carried out on a daily basis throughout the experimental period. Milk replacer feeding level had limited effects on measures of calf health, although HML calves tended to have an increased likelihood for receiving treatment for scour than CML calves. Daily lying time (min/d) was lower in HML calves following reduction in MR feeding frequency at 43 days of age and weaning at 71 days of age when compared with CML calves. Additionally, HML calves displayed a lower heart rate variability following weaning, this suggestive of increased stress load. There were limited effects of forage treatment, however, CS14 calves displayed a greater daily lying time following MR step-down at 68 days of age, this potentially indicating increased rumination. Results of the present study highlight the benefits of using remote monitoring technologies as a means of detecting behavioural and physiological changes as a result of nutritional management strategy in individually housed dairy calves.

Dataset Information

Changes of the erythrocyte phenotype and blood biochemistry in dairy calves during the first ten weeks of age.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Changes of the erythrocyte phenotype and blood biochemistry in dairy calves during the first ten weeks of age.

Similar Datasets

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