Effects of dietary energy allowance and decline in dry matter intake during the dry period on responses to glucose and insulin in transition dairy cows.

We assessed whether high energy intake during the early dry period [144% of metabolizable energy (ME) requirements/d] followed by a gradual restriction of energy intake in the close-up dry period (119% of ME/d; HEI) impaired whole-body insulin sensitivity compared with a controlled energy intake (100% of ME/d; CEI) throughout the 6-wk dry period. Multiparous Ayrshire dairy cows (n = 16) were blocked by body weight, body condition score, and expected date of parturition and were used in a randomized complete block design until 10 d after parturition. Cows were fed either HEI or CEI diets based on grass silage during the first 3 wk of the dry period and grass silage supplemented with a commercial concentrate (30% of ME intake) during the final 3 wk of gestation. After calving, all cows were fed grass silage ad libitum and an increasing amount of commercial concentrate (maximum 9 kg at d 10 postpartum). Intravenous glucose tolerance tests (IVGTT) and intravenous insulin challenges were performed -10 ± 5 d (n = 15) and +10 ± 1 d (n = 14) relative to parturition. Following glucose injection, we did not find any treatment effects on glucose and insulin responses. The prepartal nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) response of the HEI group was blunted, basal NEFA and the decrement of NEFA were smaller, and the area under the response curve (AUC) of NEFA was less negative in HEI cows than in CEI cows. The NEFA response reversed after parturition; the NEFA AUC of the HEI group was more negative than that of the CEI group. We did not find similar responses after insulin injection. Across the treatments, NEFA AUC correlated strongly with the basal NEFA concentration during the IVGTT pre- and postpartum. Calculated and model-based indices characterizing the overall glucose tolerance and β-cell function and the insulin sensitivity were higher after parturition than during the dry period. Consistent with the lower basal insulin, the acute insulin release after the glucose infusion was smaller in postpartal IVGTT than in prepartal IVGTT. The results suggest that whole-body insulin sensitivity of the cows increased after parturition. However, the role of peripheral insulin sensitivity in the regulation of glucose partitioning seems to be minor relative to the major change in insulin secretion and clearance during the periparturient period.