Association between biochemical parameters and ultrasonographic measurement for the assessment of hepatic lipidosis in dairy cows

Abstract

Hepatic lipidosis (HL) is a serious metabolic disorder that affects transient high-producing dairy cows. However, there are many laboratory methods could help in the assessment of HL in dairy cows, the definite diagnosis of the disease under field conditions remains a challenge because of the non-specificity of clinical parameters. The aim of the study was to investigate the utility of serum biomarkers, and ultrasonography (US) measurement to diagnose HL in dairy cows. Forty Holstein dairy cows underwent physical examination and were divided into three groups: non-HL, mild HL, and severe HL groups based on US findings, and the concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs). Ultrasound images showed hyperechoic lesions and increased pixel intensity (PI) values of liver echotexture in the HL groups. A significant increase was observed in mild and severe HL groups in the activity of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), BHBA, NEFAs, malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) while the concentrations of triglyceride (TG), glutathione (GSH), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were significantly decreased. The classification accuracy was in the interest of NEFAs (cut off 0.62 mmol/L, sensitivity 82.6%, specificity 91.7%, and an AUC of 0.913) and BHBA (cut off 1.35 mmol/L, sensitivity 91.31%, specificity of 86.4%, and an AUC 0.812) as important diagnostic parameters. This study offers new insights into the importance of serum biochemical parameters and oxidative stress biomarkers especially, AST, NEFAs, BHBA, and GSH with the digital values of US images for prompt use of minimally invasive techniques to diagnose HL under farm conditions.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Serum metabolites and oxidative stress indices could diagnose hepatic lipidosis in dairy cows

• NEFA and BHBA concentrations and ultrasound digital values can use as a non-invasive way to the classification of hepatic lipidosis degrees in cows under farm condition.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Hepatic lipidosis
• dairy cows
• biochemical
• oxidative stress
• ultrasound

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to extend their best regards to the Damanhour University, Egypt and the Mission Sector, Ministry of High Education, Egypt and Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia, under grant no. RGP.1/282/43. Also, the authors would like to thank Professor Mervat A. Abdel-latif for her support.

Ethical approval

The current study was carried out according to the regulations agreed by the Ethics Team of Animal Experimentation and Diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University (DMU/VetMed-2021-/0150).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data of this study are available from the corresponding author, [AE], upon reasonable request.