DESCRIPCION DE PROCESO TECNOLOGICO POR PRODUCTO

At the end of lactation, approximately two months before parturition, dairy cows enter the dry period, a part of their production cycle in which lactation is stopped (hence the name, “dry”). The dry period is a very important moment for the dairy cow. It provides the cow with an opportunity to “rest” from the metabolic demand of milk production, and dedicate its resources for the growing calf, which just started its exponential growth phase (e.g. ~60% of its total growth in mass). Furthermore, it allows the mammary gland to recover from the previous lactation, a process involving the involution of the parenchymal tissue and the regeneration of the mammary epithelial tissue. In fact, without the dry period, milk production per day would be reduced, while transition problem will not disappear (Schukken et al., 2011). Dairy cows with a short dry period (10- to 40-days) produced significantly less milk in the following lactation than cows with a 40- to 60-day dry period (Watters et al., 2008). The dry period offers as well the opportunity to the farmer to closely monitor the status of each animal and ensure a proper transition to the next lactation cycle. Nutritional strategies, feeding management, and control of cows adiposity during this period can impact high-producing dairy cows holistically: health, productivity and fertility.

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Nutritional Management

One of the greatest influences and easily controllable factors by the farmer, on metabolic functions and status of the periparturient dairy cow is nutrition, with an emphasis on pre-calving nutrition management. At the beginning of the 20th _{century Robert Boutflour (1928)}

recommended producers to “steam up” dairy cows before calving, increasing their energy intake and DMI in the weeks prior parturition. This recommendation still stood decades later, supported by positive correlation between pre-partum NEFA concentration (e.g., the increased energy intake decreased tissue mobilization) and incidence of post-partum metabolic diseases Dyk et al. (1995). To further support Boutflour century-old strategy, a negative association between pre- partum energy intake and peripartum liver TAG accumulation was observed (Bertics et al., 1992). Throughout the years the assumed benefits of Boutflour strategy were believed to result from (i) a stimulation of ruminal papillae development, (ii) an adaptation of the rumen

microflora to the higher concentrate offered in the post-partum diet, (iii) a provision of more readily available precursor for gluconeogenesis and thus glucose to the conceptus preventing maternal loss of energy reserves, and (iv) a stimulatory effect on insulin production, suppressing lipolysis and reducing influx of NEFA into the liver, reducing ketosis and steatosis. However, these benefits were disproven in recent years, as reviewed by Roche et al. (2013), Drackley and Cardoso (2014) and Kay et al. (2015).

Years prior to the support of Dyk et al. (1995) and Bertics et al. (1992) findings, Kunz et al. (1985) already started casting doubts on the steaming-up strategy (modernly called close-up diet), reporting that limiting nutrient intakes to requirements of the cows was preferable to overconsumption of energy. This led to a long series of studies showing that controlling energy intake prepartum to near calculated requirements favors a successful transition (Grum et al.,

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1996, Dann et al., 2005, Dann et al., 2006, Douglas et al., 2006, Janovick et al., 2011, Graugnard et al., 2012, Ji et al., 2012, Graugnard et al., 2013). Cows even slightly overfed with moderate- energy diets (1.50 to 1.60 Mcal NEL/kg DM) can consume from 40%, up to 80% more net energy for lactation (NEL) than required during both far-off and close-up periods (Dann et al., 2005, Dann et al., 2006, Douglas et al., 2006, Janovick and Drackley, 2010), with no evidence of benefits on their periparturient performances. On the other hand, these studies indicated that the prolonged over-consumption of energy led to a decreased post-calving DMI, negative responses of metabolic indicators (e.g., NEFA, BHBA, liver TAG),and decreased lipogenesis, increased lipolysis and decreased ability of insulin to inhibit lipolysis (Drackley and Cardoso, 2014). Furthermore, the steaming-up strategy led to decrease immune-competence postpartum (Graugnard et al., 2012), supporting field observation that the opposite strategy (a controlled energy dry cow program), decreases health problems throughout transition (Beever, 2006). This line of research has then unequivocally disputed the “benefits” of the Boutflour (1928) strategy, recommending instead a controlled limit-feeding of moderate energy diets, or ad

libitum feeding of high-bulk, low-energy rations. (Drackley and Cardoso, 2014). Interestingly, at the time of its recommendations, the steaming up-strategy attacked the already prevailing

wisdom that underfeeding cows in the weeks preceding calving was the way to avoid milk fever.

Body Condition Score

The term body condition was first defined by Murray (1919) as the ratio of body fat to non-fat components. During the transition period the dairy cow mobilizes its adipose storages to meet lactation needs, at a time where DMI lags behind the milk production performances. Thus, great importance has been on the quantification of the animal body reserves. Despite popular

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misconception, body weight per se is not a great indicator of body reserves, as it relationships with adiposity is affected by multiple factors, including parity, lactation stage, frame size, gestation stage, and breed (Roche et al., 2009). Furthermore, tissue mobilization early postpartum is concomitant to the gradual increase of feed intake, so that actual decreases in adiposity could be masked by the enhanced gastrointestinal fill, nullifying the relationship between body weight and changes in adipose and lean tissue weight (NRC, 2001). Therefore, independent systems to asses dairy cow body condition are required. Multiple subjective systems were introduced in the 1970s and 1980s. Scores were assigned to reflect the apparent degree of animal adiposity, giving them the name of body condition scores (BCS). The first scored introduced (4-point) to the dairy industry was adapted by Lowman et al. (1973) from a beef cattle oriented scoring system. Subsequently, independent systems were developed around the world, based on different scales: a 5-point system in the United States, a 6-point scale in the UK, and 8-point scale in Australia, and a 10-point scale in New Zealand (Roche et al., 2009). A comparison of the systems, with conversion equations, was conducted by Roche et al. (2004). Irrespectively of the scale used, low values reflect thin, emaciated cows, while high values equate to obesity scenarios.

Effectiveness of the scaling system was tested, with strong positive correlation between BCS and the proportion of fat physically dissected from Holsteins cows (r = 0.75 or 0.93), or observed body fat (r = 0.83) (Wright and Russel, 1984, Otto et al., 1991). However, since BCS assesses the level of subcutaneous fat (r2 = 0.89), it poorly predicts inter- and intramuscular fat (r2 = 0.43) (Wright and Russel, 1984). As the latter account for up to 45% of the body fat, BCS may be less accurate in establishing the adiposity level of thin cows that have little subcutaneous

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fat (Ferguson et al., 1994). A further factor affecting BCS accuracy is whether the score was assessed via tactile or visual appraisal of the animal (Roche et al., 2004).

One could think that, since lipomobilization after calving supplies the organism with additional energy to meet the lactation requirement, increased levels of reserves at calving (e.g., greater BCS) will results in greater milk yields. This relationship is true on the lower end of the BCS scale, with peak milk production registered at 3.5 (US 5-point scale), and marginal

increments past 3.0 (Waltner et al., 1993, Roche et al., 2007). Additionally, reports show a curvilinear association between BCS and milk production, with impaired lactation performances at the right end of the scale (e.g., decreased milk yield with high calving BCS) (Roche et al., 2009). This reduction can be explained by the negative association between BCS at calving and DMI (Roche et al., 2008), as fatter cows tend to eat less postpartum, compared to thinner animals, thus limiting the animal energy supply. This creates a domino effect: a lower DMI increased the animal NEB, which increases tissue mobilization, which increases liver NEFA overload, leading to metabolic disfunctions such as ketosis and steatosis (Cameron et al., 1998, Buckley et al., 2003, Drackley and Cardoso, 2014). Furthermore, cows that calve at a higher BCS display postpartal impairment of the immune function, increased blood inflammatory markers, and may be more subjected to oxidative stress (Contreras and Sordillo, 2011).

These reports ultimately suggest that excessive adiposity contributes to transition problems, with impaired subsequent production, health, and reproduction. However, what constitutes excessive BCS changes from author to author. Optimal BCS at calving has trended downwards over the last decades, and nowadays consensus advices BCS of 3.0-3.5 in US 5-point scale, or 5.0 in the New Zealand 10-point scale for grazing cows (Roche et al., 2009, Drackley and Cardoso, 2014).

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NSAID For Inflammation Control

The transition period represents the highest-risk period in the production cycle of dairy cows, with more than 50% of cows estimated to suffer from at last one subclinical disorder. The complexity of the adaptation to lactation have made it difficult for researchers to determine which process are physiological (e.g., homeorhetic), and which are pathological. The subacute inflammatory state typical of this period has been subject of great interest in the past decade, clearly showing that essentially all dairy cows experience some degree of systemic inflammation for a variable number of days after calving (Bradford et al., 2015). As the magnitude and

duration of this inflammatory state have been linked to increased disease risk and decrease performances (Ohtsuka et al., 2001, Ametaj et al., 2005, Bertoni et al., 2008, Huzzey et al., 2009, Dubuc et al., 2010, Qu et al., 2014), it is clear why extensive research has been dedicated to its control.

Even thou the interrelated management of prepartal nutrition and BCS at calving have been shown to be effective ways to control and contain the inflammatory response throughout transition, a branch of transition cow research focused on pharmacological intervention as a way to counteract the spike in acute and subacute inflammation postpartum. Nonsteroidal anti-

inflammatory drugs (NSAID) have been the preferred choice for their ability to inhibit enzyme cyclo-oxygenase (COX) 1 and/or 2 production of pro-inflammatory mediators (Cashman, 1996). Aspirin, as a broad inhibitor of both COX1 and COX2 was among the first tested. Trevisi et al. (2005) tested in a pilot trial (n = 5 cows/group) the effect of 25g/d of sodium acetylsalicylate for the first 5 days after calving. Treated cows had greater milk yield, a lower BCS loss postpartum, but no significant changes in inflammatory markers. The same authors (Bertoni et al., 2004) then tested the efficacy of an intra muscular injection of lysine acetyl-salicylate in the first five days

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of lactation (15 g/d d 1-3, 7.5 g/d d 4-5). They reported better health status (i.e. more favorable indices of inflammation) and a higher feed intake in treated cows, which according to the authors allowed the animals to promptly recovery of common metabolic conditions (e.g., lower NEFA BHBO). Their data also showed better liver activity, a rise in milk yield, and an improvement in fertility. Authors repeated the experiment two more time and concluded that the suggested treatment with intra muscular injection of lysine acetyl-salicylate during the first 5 days of lactation accelerates the recovery from the inflammatory consequences of the transition period, while improving milk yield, fertility, and health conditions (Trevisi and Bertoni, 2008). Overall, even if milk must be dump due to NSAID presence during the treatment (short half-life in the organism of the used NSAID guarantees milk cleanliness when injections are terminated) authors indicates a favorable benefit/cost ratio.

Looking at the success of these results, other have tried to replicate the effects of NSAID administration. Farney et al. (2013b) administered via water 1.95 g/l of sodium salicylate to Holstein cows in the first 7 days post calving. Despite increase in milk fat yield by the third week postpartum, they did not detect overall treatment effects on milk yield, nor intake. They however detected an interaction of treatment and parity on 305-d milk yield, with NSAID decreasing whole lactation performance of primiparous cows, while increasing that of pluriparous (3 or greater) animals. Authors noted as well that salicylate treatment prevented postpartum insulin resistance, likely causing excessive glucose utilization in peripheral tissues and hypoglycemia (Farney et al., 2013a). These results represent, according to the authors, the first evidence that inflammation-associated pathways are involved in homeorhetic adaptations to lactation. To support the need for a certain level of inflammation around parturition, others have also reported increased incidence of retained placenta in cows treated with NSAID (Bradford et al., 2015).

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Other NSAID, such as carprofen and meloxicam have been tested in transition dairy cows for control of pain, metritis, or mastitic events. In two separate controlled experiment, either carprofen or meloxicam were unable to stimulate and increased milk production in treated animals (Newby et al., 2013, Priest et al., 2013). However, in a large field trials in Canadians herds, meloxicam increased milk production by ~ 0.65 kg/d. (Shock et al., 2018).

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