Determination of reference intervals for metabolic profile of Hanwoo cows at early, middle and late gestation periods

BACKGROUND: Metabolic profile was initially designed as a presymptomatic diagnostic aid based on statistical analyses of blood metabolites to provide an early warning of certain types of metabolic disorder. However, there is little metabolic profile data available about Korean Hanwoo cows. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the reference intervals of metabolic profile for Korean Hanwoo cows. METHODS: Healthy animals (2,205) were selected and divided into early (day 1 to 95), middle (day 96 to 190) and late (day 191 to 285) period according to their gestating period. Metabolic profile including total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), urea (UREA), glucose (Glu), total cholesterol (T-Cho), long-chain fatty acid (LCFA), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), creatinine (Crea), calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphorous (iP) and magnesium (Mg) were analyzed using a TBA-40FR automatic biochemical analyzer. The data of Korean Hanwoo cows were then compared to those of the Japanese Wagyu cows. RESULTS: Most of the data of the Korean Hanwoo cows were relatively higher than those of Japanese Wagyu cows, with the exception of Glu and GGT. This may indicate that the nutritional level of feed for the Korean Hanwoo cows was higher than that of the Japanese Wagyu cows because of the different feeding system. In particular, relatively higher levels of UREA and LCFA were observed in the Korean Hanwoo cows, and this may also contribute to the low reproduction efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may provide some theoretical basis for understanding the reproductive and feeding situation of Korean Hanwoo cows.