Hepato-renal alterations in dairy cattle with subclinical ketosis during transition period

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate hepatic and renal functions in dairy cows suffered from sub clinical ketosis during the transition period. For this purpose, 730 Holstein Friesian dairy cattle, from a commercial dairy farm were included in this investigation. On the farm, only twenty four cows were located at a late gestation period. Blood samples were collected from each of the transition cows to estimate serum levels of β-hydroxy butyric acid (BHBA).Cows with no remarkable clinical signs but having serum BHBA> 1.20 mmol/L to 2.9 mmol/L were considered to have SCK (n = 20), while cows with no clinical signs and serum BHB < 1.00 mmol/L were considered controls (n = 4).Blood samples were then used to estimate serum values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), blood urea nitrogen , and creatinine, total protein, albumin and globulin. Our findings demonstrated significant higher values of BHBA (P<0.05), blood urea (P = 0.019), AST (P = 0.021), and ALT (P = 0.001) in diseased cows than those in controls; while creatinine, total protein and globulin showed no significant changes. We conclude that cows with SCK demonstrated marked hepatic dysfunction with substantial evidences of fatty liver. Further studies are needed to evaluate the glomerulus filtration rate in the diseased cattle that have normal serum creatinine concentrations and suspected kidney disease.