Eucalcemia during lipopolysaccharide challenge in postpartum dairy cows: I. Clinical, inflammatory, and metabolic response.

Hypocalcemia induced by immune activation is a conserved response across mammalian species; however, administration of Ca is discouraged in other species as it is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Early postpartum cows experience a decrease in circulating Ca concentration following acute inflammation. Corrective Ca therapy during the transition period, particularly in dairy cows experiencing acute disease, is common practice. However, the effect of Ca administration on the inflammatory response during acute immune activation is unknown. Our objective was to compare the clinical, inflammatory, and metabolic response to an intravenous (IV) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge between postpartum cows infused, or not, with IV Ca to maintain eucalcemia. Cows (n = 14, 8 ± 1 d in milk) were enrolled in a matched-pair randomized controlled design to receive IV Ca (IVCa) or sterile 0.9% NaCl (CTRL) during an IV LPS challenge (0.040 or 0.045 µg of LPS/kg of body weight over 1 h). Ionized Ca (iCa) was monitored cow-side, and IV Ca infusion was adjusted in a eucalcemic clamp for 12 h following the start of LPS infusion. Cows were monitored during the 24 h following challenge and serial blood samples were collected to quantify concentrations of glucose, β-hydroxybutyrate, nonesterified fatty acids, urea nitrogen, cytokines, acute-phase proteins, and cortisol. Blood iCa concentration decreased to 0.87 ± 0.03 mM in CTRL during challenge, and by design, iCa concentration was maintained within 3% of baseline in IVCa. Body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate were monitored for 24 h following the start of challenge and did not differ between groups. A treatment × time interaction was identified such that serum cortisol concentrations increased in both groups at 2 h but decreased to a greater extent at 6 h in IVCa compared with CTRL. Rumination time (min/h) over the first 12 h following challenge was greater in IVCa, but total rumination time in the 24 h following challenge did not differ from CTRL. Serum glucose and nonesterified fatty acid concentrations decreased, and β-hydroxybutyrate and urea nitrogen concentrations increased over time, but did not differ between groups. Acute leukopenia occurred in both groups at 4 h before leukocytosis was observed at 24 h with total white blood cell counts returning to baseline within 72 h. Plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) increased within 1 h following the start of challenge and did not differ between groups. Serum haptoglobin and serum amyloid A concentrations increased within the 24 h following challenge and were elevated through 72 h but did not differ between groups. Eucalcemia during the acute systemic inflammatory response did not alter the TNF or IL-10 cytokine response, or the acute-phase protein SAA and haptoglobin response in this LPS challenge model; however, eucalcemia was associated with a more rapid decline in cortisol response and greater rumination time in the first 12 h following challenge. We did not find evidence that eucalcemia exacerbated the inflammatory response in early postpartum cows, but Ca administration may alter the clinical response to acute systemic inflammation.