Changes in the Lipid Composition of the Secretions of the Bovine Mammary Gland During the Dry Period

¹ Milk Secretion and Mastitis Laboratory, Livestock and Poultry Sciences Institute, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD 20705

To study initiation of milk fat synthesis, lipid composition of mammary secretions at –60, –40, and –10 d prepartum was studied in lactating and nonlactating Holstein cows. Eleven cows were dried off, and 13 cows were milked twice per day throughout the normal dry period. Total neutral lipid was similar in late lactation milk (–60 d) from lactating cows, 2.1 g/dl, and in milk from the dry group, 2.2 g/dl. Neutral lipids decreased to 1.3 and .9 g/dl in quarters from dry cows at –40 and –10 d prepartum. In secretions from dry quarters, triglycerides were 97% of total lipids at –60 d and decreased to 85 and 91% at –40 and –10 d, respectively. Conversely, FFA and monoglycerides increased during the dry period. Lipids associated with fat globule membrane components increased during the dry period. These increases were 10 times for cholesterol, 20 times for cholesteryl esters, and twice for phospholipids. In general, the content of fat globule core lipids (triglycerides) exhibited a pattern opposite that of membrane lipids (cholesterol, cholesteryl esters, phospholipids) during the prepartum period. Proportions of core lipids tended to decrease, whereas proportions of membrane lipids increased in prepartum mammary secretions. Lipid composition of prepartum secretions may be influenced by blood lipids, somatic cells, and alterations in mammary lipid synthesis.

Key Words: involution • fatty acids • lipid classes • phospholipids

Submitted on June 5, 1991
Accepted on October 1, 1991