Abstract
Ketosis causes economic losses to the dairy industry. Subclinical ketosis (SCK) is defined as elevated concentrations of circulating ketone bodies in the absence of clinical signs. Measurement of blood β-hydroxy butyrate (BHB) concentration is considered as the gold standard method for herd monitoring. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of SCK in postpartum cows in Nishaboor, Iran. A total of 109 lactating cows in 2–4 weeks of lactation from 15 herds in Nishaboor were included in this study. Serum BHB and glucose concentrations were determined by BHB dehydrogenase and glucose oxidase methods. At the cutoff point of 1,400 μmol/L of BHB concentration, 18.42% (35/190) of dairy cows were considered subclinical ketotic with the herd range of 0–50%. The mean concentrations of glucose and BHB in ketotic were 30.6 ± 1.44 mg/dL and 2,400 ± 420 μmol/L, and in nonketotic cows were 43.6 ± 0.7 mg/dL and 637 ± 80 μmol/L, respectively. Blood glucose concentration in subclinical ketotic cows were significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) than in nonketotic cows. The serum concentrations of BHB and glucose in the tested cows were significantly (p ≤ 0.01) and inversely correlated (r = 0.457, p ≤ 0.05). The results of this study showed that the prevalence of SCK in Iran is higher rather than those reported from other countries. In order to reduce economic losses of SCK disease performing regular monitoring metabolic tests during transition period is highly recommended.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersson L (1984) Detection, occurrence, causes and effects of hyperketonaemia in Swedish dairy cows. Doctoral thesis. SLU, Experimental Station, Veterinary Institute, Skara
Andersson L (1988) Subclinical ketosis in dairy cows. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract 4:233–251
Baird GD (1982) Primary ketosis in the high-producing dairy cow: clinical and subclinical disorders, treatment, prevention, and outlook. J Dairy Sci 65:1–10
Bauman DE, Crie WW (1980) Partitioning of nutrients during pregnancy and lactation: a review of mechanisms involving homeostasis and homeoresis. J Dairy Sci 63:1514–1529
Bell AW (1995) Regulation of organic nutrient metabolism during transition from late pregnancy to early lactation. J Anim Sci 73:2804–2819
Detilleux JC, Gröhn YT, Quaas RL (1994) Effects of clinical ketosis on test day milk yields in Finnish Ayrshire cattle. J Dairy Sci 77:3316–3323
Dohoo IR, Martin SW (1984a) Subclinical ketosis: prevalence and association with production and disease. Can J Comp Med 48:1–5
Dohoo IR, Martin SW (1984b) Disease, production and culling in Holstein Friesian cows. III. Disease and production as determinants of disease. Prev Vet Med 2:671–690
Drackley JK (1999) ADSA Foundation Scholar Award. Biology of dairy cows during the transition period: the final frontier? Review. J Dairy Sci 82:2259–2273
Duffield TF (1997) Effects of a monensin controlled release capsule on energy metabolism, health, and production in lactating dairy cattle. Thesis dissertation. Guelph (Ontario): University of Guelph
Duffield TF (2000) Subclinical ketosis in lactating dairy cattle: metabolic disorders of ruminants. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract 16:231–253
Duffield TF (2004) Monitoring strategies for metabolic disease in transition dairy cows. Proceedings of the WBC Congress, Québec
Duffield TF, Sandals D, Leslie KE, Lissemore K, McBride BW, Lumsden JH, Dick P, Bagg R (1998) Efficacy of monensin for the prevention of subclinical ketosis in lactating dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 81:2866–7283
Enjalbert F, Nicot MC, Bayourthe C, Moncoulon R (2001) Ketone bodies in milk and blood of dairy cows: relationship between concentrations and utilization for detection of subclinical ketosis. J Dairy Sci 84:583–589
Geishauser T, Leslie K, Kelton D, Duffield TF (1998) Evaluation of five cowside tests for use with milk to detect subclinical ketosis in dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 81:438–443
Geishauser T, Leslie K, Tenhag K, Bashiri A (2000) Evaluation of eight cow-side ketone tests in milk for detection of subclinical ketosis in dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 83:296–299
Geishauser T, Leslie K, Kelton D, Duffield T (2001) Monitoring for subclinical ketosis in dairy herds. Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet 23:S65–S70
Grohn Y, Lindberg LA, Bruss ML, Farvar TB (1983) Fatty infiltration of liver in spontaneously ketotic dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 66:2320–2328
Jorritsma R, Baldee SJC, Schukken YH, Wensing T, Wentink GH (1998) Evaluation of a milk test for detection of subclinical ketosis. Vet Q 20:108–110
Miettinen PVA (1990) Metabolic balance and reproductive performance in Finnish dairy cows. J Veterinary Med Ser A 37:417–424
Miettinen PVA (1994) Relationship between milk acetone and milk yield in individual cows. J Veterinary Med Ser A 41:102–109
Miettinen PV, Rainio VA, Kukkonen SA, Setälä JJ (1991) Finnish dairy cows: energy balance and seasonal variation in fertility. J Veterinary Med Ser A 38:427–4320
Oetzel GR (2003) Herd-based biological testing for metabolic disorders. Preconvention seminar. Am Assoc Bov Pract 36:1–16
Oetzel GR (2004) Monitoring and testing dairy herds for metabolic disease. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract 20:651–674
Overton R, Bernal-Santos G, Perfield JD II, Bauman DE (2001) Effects of feeding conjugated linoleic fatty acids (CLA) on metabolism and performance of transition dairy cows. Cornell Nutr Conf 63:179–187
Plym Forshell K, Andersson L, Pehrson P (1991) The relationship between the fertility of dairy cows and clinical and bio-chemical measurements, with special reference to plasma glucose and milk acetone. J Veterinary Med Ser A 38:608–616
Radostis OM, Gay CC (2008) Metabolic diseases. In: Radostitis OM, Gay CC, Hinchcliff KW, Contable P (eds) Veterinary medicine. A textbook of the diseases of cattle, horses, sheep, pigs and goats, 10th edn. Elsevier, London, p 1613
Sakha M, Ameri M, Rohbakhsh A (2006) Changes in blood ß-hydroxybutyrate and glucose concentrations during dry and lactation periods in Iranian Holstein cows. Comp Clin Pathol 15:221–226
Sakha M, Ameri M, Sharifi H, Taheri I (2007) Bovine subclinical ketosis in dairy herds in Iran. Vet Res Commun 31:673–679
Whitaker DA, Kelly JM, Smith EJ (1983) Subclinical ketosis and serum beta-hydroxybutyrate levels in dairy cattle. Br Vet J 139:462–463
Whitaker DA, Smith EJ, da Rosa GO, Kelly JM (1993) Some effects of nutrition and management on the fertility of dairy cattle. Vet Rec 133:61–64
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Dr. Mehrdad Ameri for help in preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tehrani-Sharif, M., Hadadi, M., Noughabi, H.H. et al. Bovine subclinical ketosis in dairy herds in Nishaboor, Iran. Comp Clin Pathol 21, 1637–1641 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-011-1340-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-011-1340-2