Blood parameters of grazing dairy cows supplemented with different protein sources

SUMMARY The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of supplementation with different protein sources in the diets for dairy cows kept on Brachiaria brizantha MG5 grass pasture on serum levels of the glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol and urea as well as on enzymes gama grutamil transferase, creatinine quinase and aminotransferase. We have evaluated the following protein sources: bean byproduct, soybean meal, sunflower meal and cottonseed meal. Eight crossbred cows (Holstein x Gir) were used, weighing 500±60.33 kg, average milk production of 14.85±3.28 kg/day, between the 60th and the 90th day of calving, by a simultaneous double 4 x 4 latin square design 4 x 4. Each experimental period lasted 15 days, of which the first 10 days were designed to animal adaptation and the final five days for data collection. There was an interaction effect (P0.05) of protein sources for the triglycerides, cholesterol and urea levels, averaging 6.46±2.05, 182.43±37.52 and 38.20±12.29 mg/dL, respectively. There was a significant effect (P0.05) serum enzyme levels of glutamine transferase, creatinine quinase and aminotransferase, averaging 26.76±8.02, 112.13±20.13 and 58.79±31.72 IU/L, respectively. The protein sources promoted changes on blood glucose with the sampling time, while sampling time altered triglycerides and urea levels. Changes to other blood metabolites were not observed.