Simple treatments may reduce inflammation and its side effects when expecting cows

According to researchers at Pennsylvania’s University of Agricultural Sciences, the transition period when cows give birth and begin milk production from the late stages of pregnancy is one of the most difficult times in cow’s life. Physiological changes such as higher systemic inflammation can lead to negative effects, such as lower health and lower milk production.

A new study led by Adrian Barragan, an associate professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences, has revealed a simple and practical strategy to help farmers reduce this inflammation and subsequent side effects: both are non-steroids It is a sexually anti-inflammatory drug.

The study, published in the Journal of Dairy Science, examined the effects of giving pregnant cows two commonly available treatments.

The team found that each treatment had a different effect on different cows. Heifers are pregnant for the first time, but meloxicam-treated milk produced higher milk volumes than other cows. Furthermore, excessive conditioned cows treated with meloxicam (both above average body fat also had higher milk yields, but only 10-15 weeks of breastfeeding.

Meanwhile, the researchers found that overconditioned cows treated with aspirin have about half the rate of disease compared to overconditioned cows treated with meloxicam or placebo.

Barragan, who is also an extended veterinarian, said the study is an example of how his lab seeks practical treatment strategies that farmers can easily incorporate into their routines.

“We are trying to escape the popular ‘blanket treatment’ strategy that was once recommended. All animals in the herd were treated. Instead, we strive to identify which fauna is at higher risk of exacerbating systemic inflammation. So we can actively manage it to prevent any negative impacts on animal welfare and performance,” Barragan said.

“We found that cows with excessive conditioning respond well to these treatments, so now we can see other groups like primitive cows, which on average gave birth to cows. It accounts for about 40% of the

Previous strategies to combat this inflammation included treatment of the whole herd, but such extensive treatments have been found to cause the inflammation in some cows to be too large. Barragan said this would lead to a push to develop treatments only for the most needed animals, such as excessive conditioning and beginner cows.

“We started with the treatment given to the cow after he had the calves, but we didn’t think it would be effective,” Barragan said. “We decided to try prepregnancy treatment because inflammation is a process that starts small and then cascades into a larger response. We predicted that if we tackled that process at the onset, the final inflammatory response would also be smaller.”

For this study, the researchers assigned 170 cows and 63 heifers to one of three treatment groups: meloxicam, aspirin, or placebo. Each cow received one oral dose of the designated treatment two weeks before the expected calf was born. The team took blood samples weekly up to three weeks after delivery, and regularly measured and recorded milk yield and health information, including disease, la bones and mastitis.

Researchers found that heifers treated with meloxicam produced an average of 11 pounds of milk in the first 150 days compared to other cows. Meloxicam-treated cows also produced higher milk production during certain weeks.

“One other major finding was that overconditioned cows treated with aspirin had about half the rate of disease compared to overconditioned cows treated with meloxicam or placebo.” Barragan said. “Only about 21% of excess conditioned cows treated with aspirin can develop one or more diseases in milk in the first 60 days, compared to 38% of other overdose cow treatment groups. got it.”

In the future, researchers said larger studies will help confirm findings and explore treatments for other cattle groups.