Evaluation of propylene glycol and glycerol infusions as treatments for ketosis in dairy cows

Abstract

To evaluate propylene glycol (PG) and glycerol (G) as potential treatments for ketosis, we conducted 2 experiments lasting 4 d each in which cows received one bolus infusion per day. Blood was collected before infusion, over 240 min postinfusion, as well as 24 h postinfusion. Experiment 1 used 6 ruminally cannulated cows (26 ± 7 d in milk) randomly assigned to 300-mL infusions of PG or G (both ≥99.5% pure) in a crossover design experiment with 2 periods. Within each period, cows were assigned randomly to infusion site sequence: abomasum (A)-cranial reticulorumen (R) or the reverse, R-A. Glucose precursors were infused into the R to simulate drenching and the A to prevent metabolism by ruminal microbes. Glycerol infused in the A increased plasma glucose concentration the most (15.8 mg/dL), followed by PG infused in the R (12.6 mg/dL), PG infused in the A (9.11 mg/dL), and G infused in the R (7.3 mg/dL). Infusion of PG into the R increased plasma insulin and insulin area under the curve (AUC) the most compared with all other treatments (7.88 vs. 2.13. μIU/mL and 321 vs. 31.9 min × μIU/mL, respectively). Overall, PG decreased plasma BHBA concentration after infusion (-6.46 vs. -4.55 mg/dL) and increased BHBA AUC (-1,055 vs. -558 min × mg/dL) compared with G. Plasma NEFA responses were not different among treatments. Experiment 2 used 8 ruminally cannulated cows (22 ± 5 d in milk) randomly assigned to treatment sequence in a Latin square design experiment balanced for carryover effects. Treatments were 300 mL of PG, 300 mL of G, 600 mL of G (2G), and 300 mL of PG + 300 mL of G (GPG), all infused into the R. Treatment contrasts compared PG with each treatment containing glycerol (G, 2G, and GPG). Propylene glycol increased plasma glucose (14.0 vs. 5.35 mg/dL) and insulin (7.59 vs. 1.11 μIU/mL) concentrations compared with G, but only tended to increase glucose and insulin concentrations compared with 2G. Propylene glycol increased AUC for glucose (1,444 vs. 94.3 mg/dL) and insulin (326 vs. 6.58 min × μIU/mL) compared with G, and tended to increase insulin AUC compared with 2G. Propylene glycol was not different from GPG for glucose, insulin, or BHBA responses. Propylene glycol decreased plasma BHBA concentration (-10.3 vs. -4.21 mg/dL) and increased BHBA AUC (-1,578 vs. -1.42 min × mg/dL) compared with G, but not compared with 2G. In general, and compared with G, GPG decreased plasma NEFA concentrations after infusions and PG decreased plasma NEFA concentrations early but not late after infusions. We conclude that a 300-mL dose of PG is more effective at increasing plasma glucose concentration than G and at least as effective as 600 mL of G or a combination of G and PG when administered in the cranial reticulorumen.