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Evaluation of blood serum iron concentration as an alternative biomarker for inflammation in dairy cows

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Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the relationship between acute phase protein (APP) concentrations and serum Fe concentrations to determine whether serum iron (Fe) can be clinically applied as a substitute for APPs in cows. One hundred five Holstein–Friesian breed lactating dairy cows were enrolled in this study. Cows with inflammatory diseases were 16 subclinical, and 15 severe mastitis cows, in addition to 15 mild and 16 severe sole ulcer cows. The plasma haptoglobin (HPT), alpha-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP), SAA, serum Fe levels, and other biochemical parameters in the cows were measured. The two-sample t-tests and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to compare the control and inflammatory disease groups. ROC analysis was used to evaluate the ability to diagnose inflammation disease. From the results, the proposed diagnostic cutoff value for plasma SAA and serum Fe concentrations to identify dairy cows with inflammatory diseases based on analyses of ROC curves were set at > 3.65 mg/l and < 120.50 µg/dl, respectively. Therefore, instead of using expensive inflammatory markers to evaluate the inflammatory state at the first treatment day for inflammatory diseases in cow, it shows the useful for screening with serum Fe concentration that can be measured easily and inexpensively as alternative inflammatory biomarkers.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Rakuno Gakuen University Research Fund (2019).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, 582 Bunkyodai-Midorimachi, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, 069-8501, Japan

    Yoshiki Murakami, Haruyuki Hirata & Kazuyuki Suzuki

  2. Hokkaido Agricultual Mutual Releef Association, 74-2 Higashimae, Hokuto, Hokkaido, 041-1214, Japan

    Kenji Tsukano

Authors
  1. Yoshiki Murakami
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  2. Kenji Tsukano
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  3. Haruyuki Hirata
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  4. Kazuyuki Suzuki
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Contributions

Yoshiki Murakami contributed to the design and conception of the study. YM and Kazuyuki Suzuki participated in the data analysis. YM, Haruyuki Hirata, and Kenji Tsukano discussed the draft manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kazuyuki Suzuki.

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Ethics Approval

All procedures were reviewed and approved by the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Rakuno Gakuen University (Approval#: VH18C10).

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Murakami, Y., Tsukano, K., Hirata, H. et al. Evaluation of blood serum iron concentration as an alternative biomarker for inflammation in dairy cows. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 4710–4717 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03544-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03544-5

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