Author(s)

Joyci Torres d’Paula¹, Rafael Leonardo Vargas Martinez², Telga Lucena de Almeida Craveiro Alves¹, Stephania Katurchi Mendes Mélo¹, Marianne Kutschenko³, Eduardo Terra Nogueira³, Helena Emília Cavalcanti da Costa Cordeiro Manso¹, Hélio Cordeiro Manso Filho^1*

¹Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
²Associação Pernambucana dos Criadores, Recife, Brazil.
³Ajinomoto do Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil.

Our objectives were to measure glutamine (Gln) and glutamate (Glu) concentrations in the milk and blood of lactating Holstein cows, as well as milk composition and somatic cell count (SCC) throughout different stages of lactation. Samples were collected from 21 cows in the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 5^th and 10^th months of lactation. It analyzed Gln and Glu in the blood and Gln, Glu, lactose, fat, protein and somatic cells in the milk. Also, it measured Gln and Glu in blood from these dairy cows’ calves. Results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, T-test and Tukey’s test, with a 5% significance level. There was a difference in blood [Gln] in from dairy cows (P < 0.05), with lost concentration observed at 2^nd (~0.181 μmol/mL) and 5^th (~0.190 μmol/mL) months of lactation and the highest at 10^th month (~0.276 μmol/mL). Also there was a higher protein content in the 5^th and 10^th months of lactation (~3.61% each) when compared to the other months (P < 0.05). There was no difference in calves’ parameters and in all others parameters from dairy cows. We concluded that the lactation period produced a significant interference in blood [Gln] but not in milk [Gln] which may indicate increase in utilization or decrease in production of this amino acids during lactation in these cows under tropical conditions.

Amino Acid, Lactation, Bovine, Ruminant

d’Paula, J. , Martinez, R. , de Almeida Craveiro Alves, T. , Mélo, S. , Kutschenko, M. , Nogueira, E. , da Costa Cordeiro Manso, H. and Filho, H. (2014) Blood and Milk Glutamine + Glutamate and Milk Composition in Lactating Holstein Cows in Semi-Arid of Brazil. Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine, 4, 322-328. doi: 10.4236/ojvm.2014.412039.