Assessment of the Effects of Intrauterine Dextrose Infusion After Calving on Uterine Health, Metabolic Stress, Systemic Inflammation and Daily Milk Yield in Post-partum Dairy Cows
Open Access
- Author:
- Mattice, Hailey
- Area of Honors:
- Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Adrian A Barragan, Thesis Supervisor
Robert John Vansaun, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Metritis
Clinical Metritis
Intrauterine Dextrose Infusion
Intrauterine Infusion
Dairy Cows
Uterine Health
Post-partum Dairy Cows
Metabolic stress - Abstract:
- The objective of this study was to assess the effect of intrauterine dextrose infusion at 4±1 days in milk (DIM) on uterine health (i.e., incidence of clinical metritis), metabolic stress (i.e., body condition score [BCS], β-hydroxybutyrate [BHB] concentration), systemic inflammation (i.e., haptoglobin [HP] concentration), daily milk yield and reproductive performance in post-partum dairy cows. Cows (n = 245) from a dairy farm located in southwest Pennsylvania were screened at 4±1 DIM using a Metricheck® device to assess vaginal discharge. In addition, overall cow health (e.g., lameness) and rectal temperature was assessed at this time. Cows that presented a clear dense vaginal discharge, were in good health status, and had a normal rectal temperature (i.e., <39.7 °C; n = 134) were blocked by parity (primiparous [PRIM] = 64; multiparous [MUL] = 70) and randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) SAL (n=45): one intrauterine infusion of saline solution (1 L/cow); 2) DEX (n=44): one intrauterine infusion of a 50% dextrose solution (1 L/cow), and 3) CON (n=45): cows remained untreated. The goal of the experiment was to determine the effectiveness of the dextrose treatment compared to control groups in preventing the development of clinical metritis in otherwise healthy animals. Cows were re-screened at 7 days after enrollment to assess uterine health. Body condition score was assessed and blood samples were collected at enrollment and at study day 7, 14 and 21. Furthermore, daily milk yield and clinical disease events (for the first 60 DIM) and reproductive performance data were collected from on-farm computer records. The data were analyzed using the MIXED and GLIMMIX procedures of SAS as a randomized complete block design. Although not significant (RCMI p = 0.13; FCMI p =0.11), the Research Clinical Metritis Incidence (RCMI) and Farm Clinical Metritis Incidence (FCMI) in DEX and SAL cows was on average 14.52 and 18.16 percentage points higher, respectively, compared to CON cows. SAL cows had higher BHB and HP concentration and higher incidence of subclinical ketosis compared to CON cows on study d 7. In regards to daily milk yield, there was a day by treatment interaction, where CON cows produced more milk in certain days compared to DEX and SAL cows. Based on these findings, authors conclude that intrauterine dextrose infusion in postpartum cows with normal vaginal discharge may be prejudicial for cow health and performance