Association of Metabolic Profile and Body Condition Score with Productive and Reproductive Parameters in Dairy Cows in a High-altitude Environment

Remigio-Lorenzo L.; Villar F.A.; Sánchez N.M.; Unchupaico-Payano I.; Mauricio-Ramos Y.; Ninahuanca J. · World's Veterinary Journal (2026) · DOI: 10.54203/scil.2026.wvj85

Resumen

High-altitude environments impact metabolic adaptation during the transition from late gestation to early lactation, thereby affecting milk production, metabolic health, and reproductive recovery. The present study aimed to evaluate the associations between metabolic status and body condition with milk yield and composition, metabolic disorders, and reproductive intervals in Brown Swiss cows grazing in high-altitude areas. A prospective longitudinal observational study was conducted at a single production facility in Peru, located at an altitude of 3,829 meters above sea level. Sixty-one multiparous cows, approximately 5.5 to 7 years old, with 4 to 5 recorded calvings, had an average prepartum body weight of 692.4 ± 123.6 kilograms. These cows were monitored from 4 weeks before calving until 9 weeks postpartum. Metabolic adaptation during the transition period was evaluated prepartum and at postpartum weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Levels of β-hydroxybutyrate, glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, albumin, total protein, ionized calcium, body condition score, estimated body weight, milk yield and composition, and reproductive intervals were measured. Energy-lipid imbalance was determined by measuring β-hydroxybutyrate, glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides, whereas serum protein levels were assessed by measuring albumin and total protein. Both integrated indicators, energy-lipid imbalance and serum protein status, demonstrated non-linear patterns, peaking at their highest posterior levels around postpartum week 5. Postpartum week had a greater impact on milk production and composition than the animals' metabolic status. The body condition score demonstrated the strongest association with ketosis, where a 1-standard-deviation increase was associated with lower odds of ketosis. Ketosis prevalence was highest at week 5 (19.6%), whereas hypocalcemia persisted as a common condition throughout the follow-up period. Higher serum protein levels were associated with a shorter calving-to-conception interval, although this finding was imprecise. The postpartum period was more strongly associated with milk production, whereas body condition was the most indicative measure of ketosis risk. CC BY Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2026

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Los Andes; Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú