Does the peroral chromium administration in young Hariana calves reduce the risk of calf diarrhea by ameliorating insulin response, lactose intolerance, antioxidant status, and immune response?

• Published in: Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology 2023-12, Vol.80, p.127313-127313, Article 127313
• Main Authors: Kumar, Muneendra, Kumar, Vinod, Singh, Yajuvendra, Srivastava, Ashish, Kushwaha, Raju, Vaswani, Shalini, Kumar, Avinash, Khare, Shivam, Yadav, Brijesh, Yadav, Rajkumar, Sirohi, Rajneesh, Shukla, Pankaj Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antioxidant; Chromium; Health status; Immunity; Insulin sensitivity; Lactose intolerance
• ISSN: 0946-672X; 1878-3252
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2023.127313

The reduction in insulin sensitivity during rumen development may predispose dairy calves towards lactose intolerance, which could be the reason behind neonatal calf diarrhea (NCD). Chromium (Cr) results in a range of effects when fed to ruminants, but most studies have shown improved insulin sensitivity. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Cr supplementation on insulin sensitivity, lactose intolerance, diarrhoea and antioxidant, and immune response in young Hariana calves. A total of 20 milk-fed Hariana calves were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments, each consisted of 10 calves: (1) a control group without supplemental Cr and (2) a 0.15 mg Cr as Cr-picolinate (CrPic)/kg BW0.75 supplemented group (Cr0.15). A more rapid glucose disappearance with unaltered insulin kinetics during intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) and oral lactose tolerance test (OLTT) indicates greater insulin sensitivity in Cr supplemented calves. Better insulin sensitivity in Cr supplemented calves was further confirmed by higher values of the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), revised quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (RQUICKI) and insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) and lower (P