Abstract
Fatty liver is defined as an accumulation of fat, mainly Triacylglycerol (TAG) in liver. Fatty liver in dairy cows is categorized into mild, moderate and severe fatty liver. Obesity in pregnant cow is crucial etiological factor for postpartal development of fatty liver. Namely, obese cows have a greater decrease in feed intake during the period around parturition and, therefore, have a more severe negative energy balance during early lactation which leads to increased lipolysis of adipose tissue. Non Esterified Fatty Acids (NEFA), released from the stored TAG in the adipose tissue, are readily taken up by liver. The excess of NEFA may be converted to TAG and deposit in liver. Liver biopsy is the only reliable method for the detection of fatty liver, especially for the determination of its severity through the estimation of total lipids and TAG. Ecography may be considered as noninvasive, on-farm method for diagnosis of fatty liver which is not commonly used do to the not widely achievable equipment. Since some metabolic and endocrine parameters are significantly correlated with fatty liver degree, they may be used as diagnostic indicators of fatty liver. The significance of those indicators for diagnosis of fatty liver is present in this review. Additionally, indicators that may be used for prediction of fatty liver are explained. Specially attention was given to glucose, NEFA, BHBA, liver enzymes, total bilirubin, total protein, albumin and urea as well as some hormones involved in lipid metabolism. Achievements of novel methods, like genomic and proteomic profiling of biological fluids of diseased cows, in providing tools for diagnosis and prognosis of this metabolic disease are presented.
Citation
Kirovski D and Sladojevic Z. Prediction and Diagnosis of Fatty Liver in Dairy Cows. J Gastroenterol. 2017; 3(1): 1005.