Association between metabolic indicators and clinical endometritis during the transition period in Brown Swiss cows

Abstract

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the relationship between the serum macromineral, metabolite profiles, and the clinical endometritis during the transition period in Brown Swiss dairy cows. Sixty Brown Swiss dairy cows were used in the present study. Blood samples collected at d 10 (+/- 4) antepartum and 3, 10 and 30 (+/- 4) days in milk (DIM) to determine calcium (Ca), phosphorus, glucose, cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) levels. Beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB) concentration measured during the postpartum period. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were used to determine the cow-level thresholds for the subsequent development of clinical endometritis. In addition, pairwise comparisons were made of the area under the curve (AUC) of ROC curves for the thresholds of NEFA, Ca, and glucose predicting clinical endometritis. The mean Ca concentration at 3 DIM was 8.85 +/- 0.20 mg/dL in healthy cows compared to 8.30 +/- 0.22 mg/dL in cows that subsequently developed endometritis (P < 0.05). NEFA concentrations at 10 DIM and BHB concentration at 10 and 30 +/- 4 DIM were higher (P < 0.05) in cows that subsequently developed endometritis. Serum NEFA concentration at 10 days postpartum is the best predictor for diagnosis of clinical endometritis with the AUC values of 0.741. The cows with clinical endometritis also had significantly higher values of glucose at 3 DIM and lower BCS at 10 DIM (P < 0.05). While 58.6% of the cows that developed clinical endometritis were cyclic, 64.5% were cyclic in healthy cows at 30 +/- 4 DIM. Serum NEFA concentration was the only risk factor for clinical endometritis at 10 DIM. In addition, a decrease in serum Ca at 3 DIM and increase in NEFA and BHB concentrations at 10 and 30 +/- 4 DIM may be associated with clinical endometritis and delayed resumption activity on the ovaries.