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Protein nutrition in late pregnancy, maternal protein reserves and lactation performance in dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2008

Alan W. Bell ,
Winfield S. Burhans  and
Thomas R. Overton
Alan W. Bell*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853–4801, USA
Winfield S. Burhans
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853–4801, USA
Thomas R. Overton
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853–4801, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Dr A. W. Bell, fax +1 607 255 9829, email [email protected]
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Abstract

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Empirical evidence suggests that prolonged underfeeding of protein to late-pregnant dry cows can have modest negative carry-over effects on milk volume and/or protein yield during early lactation, and may also cause increased incidence of metabolic diseases associated with fatty liver. However, assessment of requirements is hampered by lack of information on relationships between dietary intake of crude protein (N × 6·25) and metabolizable protein supply during late pregnancy, and by incomplete understanding of the quantitative metabolism of amino acids in maternal and conceptus tissues. Inability of the postparturient cow to consume sufficient protein to meet mammary and extra-mammary amino acid requirements, including a significant demand for hepatic gluconeogenesis, necessitates a substantial, albeit transient, mobilization of tissue protein during the first 2 weeks of lactation. Ultimately, much of this mobilized protein appears to be derived from peripheral tissues, especially skeletal muscle and, to a lesser extent, skin, through suppression of tissue protein synthesis, and possibly increased proteolysis. In the shorter term, soon after calving, it is likely that amino acids required for hepatic glucose synthesis are diverted from high rates of synthesis of splanchnic tissue and export proteins, including serum albumin. The prevailing endocrine milieu of the periparturient cow, including major reductions in plasma levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I, together with insulin resistance in peripheral tissues, must permissively facilitate, if not actively promote, net mobilization of amino acids from these tissues.

Keywords

Periparturient dairy cowProtein requirementsTissue protein mobilization
Type
Animal Nutrition and Metabolism Group Symposium on ‘Regulation of maternal reserves and effects on lactation and the nutrition of young animals’
Information
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society , Volume 59 , Issue 1 , February 2000 , pp. 119 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2000

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