Metabolomics of Four Biofluids from Dairy Cows: Potential Biomarkers for Milk Production and Quality

The fundamental understanding of the mechanisms regulating milk protein synthesis is limited. This study aimed to elucidate the metabolic mechanisms of milk production affected by forage quality through studying metabolites from four biofluids (rumen fluid, milk, serum, and urine) collected from 16...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of proteome research 2015-02, Vol.14 (2), p.1287-1298
Main Authors: Sun, Hui-Zeng, Wang, Di-Ming, Wang, Bing, Wang, Jia-Kun, Liu, Hong-Yun, Guan, Le Luo, Liu, Jian-Xin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biomarkers - metabolism
Body Fluids - metabolism
Cattle
Dairying
Female
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Metabolomics
Milk - metabolism
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The fundamental understanding of the mechanisms regulating milk protein synthesis is limited. This study aimed to elucidate the metabolic mechanisms of milk production affected by forage quality through studying metabolites from four biofluids (rumen fluid, milk, serum, and urine) collected from 16 lactating cows fed alfalfa hay (AH, high-quality, n = 8) and corn stover (CS, low-quality, n = 8) using gas chromatography-time-of-flight/mass spectrometry. The cows fed AH exhibited higher milk yield (P < 0.01), milk protein yield (P = 0.04), and milk efficiency (P < 0.01) than those fed CS. A total of 165, 195, 218, and 156 metabolites were identified in the rumen fluid, milk, serum, and urine, respectively, while 29 metabolites were found in all four biofluids. In addition 55, 8, 28, and 31 metabolites in each biofluid were significantly different (VIP > 1 and P < 0.05) between the AH- and CS-fed animals. These metabolites were involved in glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism; tyrosine metabolism; and phenylalanine metabolism. Further integrated key metabolic pathway analysis showed that the AH-fed cows may have more comprehensive amino acid metabolisms, suggesting that these metabolite-associated pathways may serve as biomarkers for higher milk yield and better milk protein quality.
ISSN:1535-3893
1535-3907
DOI:10.1021/pr501305g