Influences of Metabolic Traits on Subclinical Endometritis at Different Intervals Postpartum in High Milking Cows

Contents Seventy pluriparous high-yielding cows were used to investigate the impact of metabolic traits and body condition score (BCS) during early lactation on subclinical endometritis diagnosed at weeks 5, 6 and 7 postpartum (pp). Blood samples were collected from animals with no peripartum problems from the second (W2) to seventh (W7) weeks pp to estimate some blood metabolites including non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA), blood glucose, total cholesterol (T-chol) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Reproductive tract examination was carried out at weeks 5, 6 and 7 pp by endometrial cytology (percentage of polymorphonuclear cells; PMN%). Based on PMN%, animals having <5% were defined as subclinical endometritis group (ENDM group) while animals unaffected by endometritis were defined as no subclinical endometritis group (NOENDM group). Animals with endometritis during week 5 were identified as ENDM5, during week 6 identified as ENDM6 and during week 7 identified as ENDM7 or animals with no endometritis during weeks 5 (NOENDM5), 6 (NOENDM6) and 7 (NOENDM7) pp. Animals diagnosed at week 5; BUN and BCS were lower p < 0.05 in ENDM 5 than NOENDM5 group at W2, W4, W6 and W7. Cows diagnosed at week 6; T-chol was significantly higher (p = 0.05) in ENDM6 group (279.2 +/- 12.5 mg/dl) than NOENDM6 group (246 +/- 9.5 mg/dl) at W7. Moreover, blood glucose was significantly low (p < 0.05) in ENDM6 group when compared to NOENDM group at W4 pp (49.2 +/- 1.8 vs 53.8 +/- 1.3 mg/dl). BCS was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in animals suffered from endometritis during week 7 when compared to NOENDM7 cows at W3, W4, W5, W6 and W7. In conclusion, lower blood glucose, BUN and BCS could be a risk factor for cytologically diagnosed endometritis at weeks 5, 6 and 7 pp.