Maternal body condition during late-pregnancy is associated with in utero development and neonatal growth of Holstein calves

Table 3 Growth measurements and concentrations of plasma biomarkers at birth in calves born to cows classified according to normal body condition score (BCS) (≤ 3.25, NormBCS; n = 30) or high BCS (≥ 3.75, HighBCS; n = 19) at 4 weeks prior to parturition

Item^a	Maternal BCS		SEM		P-value
Item^a	HighBCS	NormBCS	HighBCS	NormBCS	P-value
Body weight (BW), kg	42.5^*	44. 7	0.72	0.63	0.03
Calf BW/Cow BW^b	0.048	0.059	0.002	0.001	< 0.001
Hip height, cm	78.8	78.9	0.78	0.61	0.86
Hip width, cm	15.1	15.1	0.20	0.16	0.84
Wither height, cm	76.1	76.8	0.40	0.32	0.20
Body length, cm	111	110	1.0	1.2	0.49
Plasma biomarkers
Energy metabolism
BHBA, mmol/L	0.03^*	0.05	0.006	0.004	0.01
Creatinine, μmol/L	170	179	7.20	4.56	0.32
Glucose, mmol/L	4.56	3.93	0.30	0.21	0.09
NEFA, mmol/L	0.77^*	1.08	0.11	0.08	0.03
Urea, mmol/L	5.31^*	5.97	0.24	0.19	0.04
Liver function
AST/GOT, U/L	46.4	51.7	3.97	2.96	0.30
Cholesterol, mmol/L	0.58	0.64	0.05	0.04	0.32
GGT, U/L	10.5	9.93	1.08	0.83	0.70
Total bilirubin, μmol/L	10.6	13.5	1.17	0.90	0.06
Inflammation
Albumin, g/L	28.9^*	30.0	0.35	0.27	0.02
Ceruloplasmin, μmol/L	0.04^*	0.10	0.02	0.01	0.01
Haptoglobin, g/L	0.33	0.33	0.02	0.02	0.76
Myeloperoxidase, U/L	217	198	20	16	0.47
Oxidative stress
Paraoxonase, U/mL	9.71	9.43	2.21	1.89	0.92
FRAP, μmol/L	250	247	12.63	9.71	0.85
NO_x, μmol/L	202	197	10.72	7.92	0.74
Nitrites, μmol/L	3.04	3.71	0.31	0.24	0.09
Nitrates, μmol/L	199	194	10.81	7.99	0.71
ROM, mg H₂O₂/100 mL	4.91	5.06	0.26	0.20	0.67
Retinol, μg/100 mL	8.40	8.43	0.78	0.58	0.97
Tocopherol, μg/mL	0.39	0.41	0.03	0.02	0.59

^aAST aspartate aminotransferase, BHBA betahydroxybutyrate, GGT γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, FRAP ferric reducing ability of plasma, NEFA nonesterified fatty acids, NO_x nitric oxide, ROM reactive oxygen metabolites
^bRatio of calf birth BW to cow BW at −4 weeks relative to parturition
^*Means differ P ≤ 0.05 between

ISSN: 2049-1891