Metabolic indicators for retention of fetal membranes in Zebu and crossbred dairy cattle Susavi Kumari A , Shiv Prasad A , T. K. Patbandha B , R. Pathak A , A. Kumaresan A,C , P. Boro A , A. Manimaran A and T. K. Mohanty A A Livestock Research Centre, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal-132001, Haryana, India. B College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh-362001, Gujarat, India. C Corresponding author. Email: ogkumaresan@gmail.com Abstract. The present study assessed the peripartum metabolic profile of Karan Fries crossbred (Holstein Friesian · Tharparkar) and Zebu (Sahiwal) cows in relation to expulsion of fetal membranes. Peripheral blood concentrations of glucose, total protein, total cholesterol, blood urea nitrogen, non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) and b-hydroxy butyric acid (BHBA) were determined (from 30 days before and 2 days after calving) in cows that expelled fetal membranes normally (n = 13; 7 crossbred and 6 Zebu cows) and in cows that developed retention of fetal membranes (RFM; n = 13; 7 crossbred and 6 Zebu cows). In both breeds, the cows that developed RFM had significantly lower concentrations of cholesterol, glucose and total protein, while the concentrations of NEFA, BHBA and blood urea nitrogen were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those in cows that normally expelled the fetal membranes. In crossbred cows affected with RFM, the concentrations of NEFA increased significantly (P < 0.05) from Day 14 prepartum to Day 2 postpartum and the concentrations of BHBA increased from Day 7 prepartum to Day 2 after calving. Similarly, in Zebu cows, NEFA and BHBA concentrations increased significantly (P < 0.05) between Day 5 prepartum and Day 2 postpartum in RFM cows. Using receiver operator characteristic analysis, we observed that the concentrations of NEFA and BHBA before calving were highly related to the RFM. It may be inferred that monitoring the levels of NEFA and BHBA during prepartum period would help in identifying the cows at the risk of developing RFM. Additional keywords: crossbred cows, peripartum, Zebu cows. Received 12 August 2014, accepted 30 December 2014, published online 1 April 2015 Introduction Retention of fetal membranes (RFM) in bovines causes huge economic losses in terms of loss of production and reproduction performance. In dairy cattle, RFM acts as a risk factor for uterine and udder infection, metabolic diseases such as ketosis and displaced abomasum, and subsequently reduces pregnancy rate and overall milk production (LeBlanc 2008). Incidences of RFM in dairy cattle have been reported to range from 4.76% (Martins et al. 2004) to 18% (Han and Kim 2005). In crossbred and Zebu cattle, the incidence of RFM has been reported to be 26% and 16%, respectively (Kumari et al. 2014). Early identification of cows at the risk of developing RFM would help the producers in adopting suitable management strategies so as to prevent the condition. The nutritional requirement around parturition increases owing to the demand for the growth of fetus, fetal membranes and supplementary mammary tissue to maintain ensuing lactation. However, the peripartum period is marked by reduced dry matter intake (DMI; Bell 1995; Hayirli et al. 1998), eventually leading to negative energy balance (NEB). During NEB, there is mobilisation of body fat and protein reserves, to fulfil the energy requirements. Changes in energy demand and reduction in the DMI, with consequent lipid mobilisation, increases non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and b-hydroxy butyric acid (BHBA) (Grum et al. 1996; Reist et al. 2002). Cows with RFM had a high concentration of ketone bodies and free fatty acids (FFA) in the last week before parturition (Kuzma et al. 1996). Interestingly, various investigations have reported a marked alteration of serum or plasma cholesterol, urea nitrogen, glucose, total protein (TP), NEFA and BHBA in RFM cows, when compared with cows that expelled the fetal membranes normally (Zhang et al. 2002; Kaczmarowski et al. 2006; Seifi et al. 2007; Hashem and Hussein 2008; Quiroz-Rocha et al. 2009; Civelek et al. 2011). Thus, the estimation of metabolites and molecules such as blood glucose, total cholesterol, urea, NEFA and BHBA that indicate the energy balance in blood (Reist et al. 2002) may provide clues regarding the risk of development of RFM. But the information regarding association of blood metabolites and molecules indicating energy balance with RFM in Zebu and crossbred cows is very limited. Therefore, the present experiment was designed to determine certain blood metabolites and molecules CSIRO PUBLISHING Animal Production Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AN14941 Journal compilation Ó CSIRO 2015 www.publish.csiro.au/journals/an