Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (2): 621-632.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.02.014

• Animal Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analyses of Metabolites and Pathways Related to Hypoxic Stress in Dairy Cows Based on Blood Metabolome

LONG Yizhou1(), LOU Wenqi1, HUANG Shangzhen1, SHI Rui1, CHEN Gong2, LI Bin3, CISANG Zhuoma3, XU Qing2,*(), WANG Yachun1,*()   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
    2. College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
    3. Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Lhasa 850000, China
  • Received:2024-06-26 Online:2025-02-23 Published:2025-02-26
  • Contact: XU Qing, WANG Yachun E-mail:2021304030321@cau.edu.cn;qingxu@bjtu.edu.cn;wangyachun@cau.edu.cn

Abstract:

This study aimed to identify differential metabolites and pathways associated with blood oxygen saturation (BOS) by analyzing blood metabolites between the high and low BOS groups of dairy cows. Blood samples were collected from 60 Chinese Holstein cows in two Tibet's commercial farms, then 43 blood metabolite profiles and other phenotypes were obtained from 30 Holstein cows in each of the high and low BOS groups based on absolute quantification by 1H NMR. Fold Change analysis, t-test and variable importance in projection were used to investigate the differential metabolites and related pathways related to BOS. A total of 17 metabolites were found to be associated with high and low BOS, with 3 up-regulated metabolites (glycine, mannitol, urea; P < 0.05) and 14 down-regulated metabolites (citrate, formate, pyruvate and others; P < 0.05) in high BOS group. The 16 metabolic pathways were found that related to the glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism and others. Differential metabolites were related to a variety of metabolisms such as amino acids and organic acids in the cow body and had a critical role in the protection and treatment of tissue damage, the regulation of cellular homeostasis, and the alleviation of stress caused by hypoxia. In general, this study identified the differential metabolites as well as pathways related to BOS levels, providing a foundation for further research on the mechanism of high-altitude adaptation in cows and alleviating high-altitude hypoxia stress.

Key words: Holstein, blood oxygen saturation, blood metabolite, high-altitude hypoxia stress

CLC Number: