Abstract

HENAO RESTREPO, Guillermo; GALVIS GOEZ, Rubén Darío; CARDONA BERMUDEZ, Liliana María  and  CASTRO HENAO, Natalia María. RELATIONSHIP AMONG WEIGHT LOSS, LIPIDIC PROFILE AND PLASMA CONCENTRATIONS OF LEPTIN IN FIRST CALVING ZEBU COWS. Rev. Fac. Nac. Agron. Medellín [online]. 2010, vol.63, n.2, pp.5595-5605. ISSN 0304-2847.

To characterize the existing relations among weight loss, lipid profile and generation of leptin during the postpartum period, 20 healthy Zebu heifers with 8,2 ±0,6 months of gestation and body condition score between 6 and 8 (1-9 points scale) were selected. Every 14 days the cow’s live weight was measured and weekly blood samples were taken from the start of the experiment up to 56 days postpartum. The levels of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAS), cholesterol, leptin and lipoproteins profile (HDL, LDL, VLDL), were quantified, evaluated and compared; the possible relationships among cow live weight change with lipid profile and plasmatic leptin were evaluated. Respect to the changes of weight, differences (P<0.05) between weeks postpartum appeared, suggesting a smaller diminution in the proportion of loss of weight as advanced the postpartum period. Respect to the effect of the days postpartum on the lipid profile, significant variations for cholesterol, lipoproteins and NEFAS appeared. There were significant and direct relation between cholesterol and leptin, and the loss of weight and NEFAS. There were significant and inverse relations of NEFAS with cholesterol and HDL. All of the above suggests that in the early postpartum, at the beginning the primiparous Zebu cows show low values of LDL, and HDL later, without any change in the VLDL, which may limit the proper mobilization and distribution of body reserves to the liver and from it to other organs.

Keywords : Nefas; cholesterol; lipoproteins; postpartum.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )