Metabolic Response to Heat Stress in Late-Pregnant and Early Lactation Dairy Cows: Implications to Liver-Muscle Crosstalk.

ABSTRACT: Climate changes lead to rising temperatures during summer periods and dramatic economic losses in dairy production. Modern high-yielding dairy cows experience severe metabolic stress during the transition period between late gestation and early lactation to meet the high energy and nutrient requirements of the fetus or the mammary gland, and additional thermal stress during this time has adverse implications on metabolism and welfare. The mechanisms enabling metabolic adaptation to heat apart from the decline in feed intake and milk yield are not fully elucidated yet. To distinguish between feed intake and heat stress related effects, German Holstein dairy cows were first kept at thermoneutral conditions at 15°C followed by exposure to heat-stressed (HS) at 28°C or pair-feeding (PF) at 15°

SUBMITTER: Koch F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4981427 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature