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Effects of dietary energy and protein density on plasma concentrations of leptin and metabolic hormones in dairy heifers

P. K. Chelikani^*,1, D. J. Ambrose^,, D. H. Keisler and J. J. Kennelly

^* Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada, T2N 4N1
Agriculture Research Division, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6H 5T6
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, T6G 2P5
Division of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia 65211

¹ Corresponding author: pchelika{at}ucalgary.ca

The hormonal and metabolic signals that communicate the level of body energy reserves to the reproductive-mammary axis remain undefined in dairy cattle; consequently, our hypothesis was that leptin may fulfill this role. Our objectives were to determine the effects of diets differing in energy and protein density on dry matter intake (DMI), growth traits [body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), back-fat (BF) thickness], and temporal changes in plasma concentrations of leptin, insulin, growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), glucose, and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) in dairy heifers during the pre- and postpubertal periods. In period 1, heifers were randomly allotted (n = 10/diet) at 103 kg of BW to diets for a predicted average daily gain of 1.10 (high, H), 0.80 (medium, M), or 0.50 kg/d (low, L). Five heifers in each of the H and L groups were further studied during period 2, either at 12 mo of age (HA, LA) or at 330 kg of BW (HW, LW). The data provide evidence that 1) DMI (18%), BW (17%), and BF (5%) together explained 40% of the variation in plasma leptin concentrations (r² = 0.396); 2) unlike the acute postprandial increase in plasma insulin as a result of increased nutrient density (H 1.42 ± 0.09, M 1.02 ± 0.09, L 0.68 ± 0.11 ng/mL), plasma leptin concentrations did not respond acutely with a distinct postprandial profile; 3) although plasma leptin concentrations increased with age, leptin at puberty did not differ among treatment groups (H 5.63 ± 2.48, M 4.28 ± 0.55, L 4.12 ± 0.72 ng/mL) and there was no evidence of an abrupt transition in prepubertal plasma leptin concentrations; 4) plasma leptin concentrations may not be a critical trigger for puberty in rapidly growing heifers, but are apparently essential for puberty in heifers with normal or restricted growth rates; and 5) plasma concentrations of insulin (H 0.59 ± 0.07, M 0.43 ± 0.09, L 0.30 ± 0.09 ng/mL), IGF-1 (H 151.08 ± 16.47, L 82.51 ± 17.47 ng/mL), and glucose (H 81.35 ± 3.39, M 73.59 ± 2.34, L 68.25 ± 3.39 mg/dL) reflected nutrient density, whereas GH (H 1.82 ± 0.23, L 5.87 ± 0.45 ng/mL) and NEFA (H 209.54 ± 50.83, L 234.93 ± 48.97 µM) were inversely related to the plane of nutrition. Collectively, these data suggest that plasma concentrations of leptin may play a role in long-term regulation of energy reserves and puberty in growing Holstein heifers.

Key Words: dairy heifer • nutrition • leptin • puberty