Post-ruminal supplies of glucose and casein, but not acetate, stimulate milk protein synthesis in dairy cows through differential effects on mammary metabolism.

Amino acids and glucose have been shown to regulate protein synthesis in the mammary gland through their effects on cellular signaling pathways. Acetate might also have an effect on protein synthesis via the AMP-activated kinase signaling pathway, because it is the main energy source for the mammary secretory cell. Thus, the objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of casein and energy-yielding nutrients (acetate and glucose), and their combination, on performance and mammary metabolism. Six multiparous Holstein cows, averaging 49 kg of milk/d, were used in a 6 × 6 Latin square design with 14-d periods. Cows were fed to 100% National Research Council requirements for metabolizable protein (MP) and energy (ME) for 9 d, after which they were feed-restricted for 5 d to 85% of their individual ad libitum intake and then abomasally infused with 1 of 6 treatments. Treatments were acetate (A), glucose (G), each at 5% of ad libitum ME intake, casein (C) at 15% of ad libitum MP intake, A + C, G + C, or a saline solution (negative control). Casein infused alone increased milk protein yield numerically, with 25% recovery of the infused casein in milk protein. Glucose infused alone increased milk and milk protein yield and promoted the highest efficiency of nitrogen utilization (37%), with an efficiency of MP use for milk protein of 58%. We discovered no effect of treatment on mammary plasma flow, and the increase in milk protein yield with glucose infusion was brought about by greater mammary AA clearance rate. Infusion of casein and glucose together further increased milk protein yield in an additive fashion, and 47% of the infused casein was recovered in milk protein. Acetate infused alone had no effect on milk protein yield but increased milk fat yield numerically, suggesting that the greater amount of acetate taken up by the mammary gland was used for milk fat synthesis. Infusion of acetate and casein together yielded responses similar to those of casein alone. In conclusion, glucose has a major effect on stimulating milk protein synthesis, and the mammary gland has the ability to increase its supply of nutrients to match its synthetic capacity.

Effects of replacing soybean meal with canola meal or treated canola meal on ruminal digestion, omasal nutrient flow, and performance in lactating dairy cows.

Extrusion treated canola meal (TCM) was produced in an attempt to increase the rumen-undegraded protein fraction of canola meal (CM). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of replacing soybean meal (SBM) with CM or TCM on ruminal digestion, omasal nutrient flow, and performance in lactating dairy cows. To assess performance, 30 multiparous Holstein cows averaging (mean ± SD) 119 ± 23 d in milk and 44 ± 7 kg of milk/d and 15 primiparous cows averaging 121 ± 19 d in milk and 34 ± 6 kg of milk/d were blocked in a randomized complete block design with a 2-wk covariate period and 12-wk experimental period (experiment 1). Dietary ingredients differed only in protein supplements, which were SBM, CM, or TCM. All diets were formulated to contain (dry matter basis) 30% alfalfa silage, 30% corn silage, 4% soy hulls, 2.4% mineral-vitamin premix, and 16% CP. The SBM diet contained 25% high-moisture shelled corn and 8.6% SBM; the canola diets contained 22% high-moisture shelled corn and either 11.2% CM or 11.4% TCM. To assess ruminal digestion and omasal nutrient flow, 6 rumen-cannulated cows were blocked into 2 squares of 3 cows and randomly assigned within blocks to the same 3 dietary treatments as in experiment 1 in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design (experiment 2). Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Orthogonal contrasts were used to compare effects of different protein supplements: SBM versus CM + TCM and CM versus TCM. In experiment 1, compared with SBM, apparent total-tract digestibilities of dry matter and nutrients were greater in cows fed both CM diets, and there was a tendency for nutrient digestibilities to be higher in cows fed CM compared with TCM. Diets did not affect milk yield and milk components; however, both canola diets decreased urinary urea N (% of total urinary N), fecal N (% of total N intake), and milk urea N concentration. In experiment 2, compared with SBM, both canola diets increased N intake and tended to increase rumen-degraded protein supply (kg/d) and N truly digested in the rumen (kg/d). Diets did not affect ruminal digestibility, efficiency of microbial protein synthesis, and rumen-undegraded protein flow among diets. Results from this experiment indicate that replacing SBM with CM or TCM in diets of lactating cows improved digestibility and may reduce environmental impact. Moreover, under the conditions of the present study, treating CM by extrusion did not improve CM utilization.

Urinary purine derivatives as a tool to estimate dry matter intake in cattle: A meta-analysis.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between dry matter intake (DMI) and urinary purine derivative (PD) excretion, to develop equations to predict DMI and to determine the endogenous excretion of PD for beef and dairy cattle using a meta-analytical approach. To develop the models, 62 published studies for both dairy (45 studies) and beef cattle (17 studies) were compiled. Twenty models were tested using DMI (kg/d) and digestible DMI (dDMI, kg/d) as response variables and PD:creatinine (linear term: PD:C, and quadratic term: PD:C2), allantoin:creatinine (linear term: ALLA:C, and quadratic term: ALLA:C2), metabolic body weight (BW0.75, kg), milk yield (MY, kg/d), and their combination as explanatory variables for dairy and beef (except for MY) cattle. The models developed to predict DMI for dairy cattle were validated using an independent data set from 2 research trials carried out at the University of Wisconsin (trial 1: n = 45; trial 2: n = 50). A second set of models was developed to estimate the endogenous PD excretion. In all evaluated models, the effect of PD (either as PD:C or ALLA:C) was significant, supporting our hypothesis that PD are in fact correlated with DMI. Despite the BW-independent relationship between PD and DMI, the inclusion of BW0.75 in the models with PD:C and ALLA:C as predictors slightly decreased the values of root mean square error (RMSE) and Akaike information criterion for the models of DMI. Our models suggest that both DMI and dDMI can be equally well predicted by PD-related variables; however, predicting DMI seems more useful from a practical and experimental standpoint. The inclusion of MY into the dairy models substantially decreased RMSE and Akaike information criterion values, and further increased the precision of the equations. The model including PD:C, BW0.75, and MY presented greater concordance correlation coefficient (0.93 and 0.63 for trials 1 and 2, respectively) and lower RMSE of prediction (1.90 and 3.35 kg/d for trials 1 and 2, respectively) when tested in the validation data set, emerging as a potentially useful estimator of nutrient intake in dairy cows. Endogenous PD excretion was estimated by the intercept of the linear regression between DMI (g/kg of BW0.75) and PD excretion (mmol/kg of BW0.75) for beef (0.404 mmol/kg of BW0.75) and dairy cattle (0.651 mmol/kg of BW0.75). Based on the very close agreement between our results for beef cattle and the literature, the linear regression appears to be an adequate method to estimate endogenous PD excretion.

Effect of protein supplementation on milk production and metabolism of dairy cows grazing tropical grass.

The objectives of this study were to determine if midlactation dairy cows (Bos taurus L.) grazing intensively managed elephantgrass would have their protein requirement met exclusively with the pasture and an energy concentrate, making the use of protein ingredients unnecessary, as well as to determine the dietary crude protein (CP) content that would optimize the efficiency of N utilization (ENU). Thirty-three Holstein and crossbred (Holstein × Jersey) midlactation dairy cows, producing approximately 20 kg/d, were grouped within breed into 11 blocks according to milk yield and days in milk. Within blocks, cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments and remained in the study for 11 wk. The control treatment contained only finely ground corn, minerals, and vitamins, and it was formulated to be 8.7% CP. Two higher levels of CP (formulated to be 13.4 and 18.1%) were achieved by replacing corn with solvent-extracted soybean meal (SSBM). Pasture was fertilized with 50 kg of N/ha after each grazing cycle and averaged 18.5% CP (dry matter basis). No differences were observed in milk yield or milk fat, protein, and casein content or casein yield. In addition, pasture intake was not different among treatments. Milk urea N increased linearly as the concentrate CP content increased. Cows fed the 8.7% CP concentrate had higher ENU. In another experiment, 4 ruminally cannulated Holstein dry cows were used in a metabolism trial designed in a 4×4 Latin square. Cows were fed the same treatments described as well as a fourth treatment with 13.4% CP in the concentrate, in which urea replaced SSBM as the main N source. Ruminal volatile fatty acid concentration and microbial synthesis were not affected by levels or sources of N in the concentrate. Ruminal NH(3)N content increased as the concentrate CP content increased. Inclusion of SSBM in the concentrate did not increase production and decreased the ENU of midlactation dairy cows grazing on tropical forage. Supplementation of an 8.7% CP concentrate, resulting in a diet with CP levels between 15.3 and 15.7% of dry matter, was sufficient to meet the protein requirements of such milk production, with the highest ENU (18.4%).