FGF-21: promising biomarker for detecting ketosis in dairy cows

• DOI: 10.1007/s11259-015-9650-5
• Publication Date: 2016-01-04T00:45:22Z
• Authors: Chuang Xu; Qiushi Xu; Yuanyuan Chen; Wei Yang; Cheng Xia; Hongjiang Yu; Kuilin Zhu; Taiyu Shen; Ziyang Zhang
• Keywords: Fibroblast Growth Factors; 0403 veterinary science; 2. Zero hunger; ROC Curve; Area Under Curve; Animals; Cattle Diseases; Cattle; Female; Ketosis; 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences; Biomarkers

The objective of this study was to investigate the measurement of serum fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21), a protein mainly synthesized by the liver, as a sensitive biomarker for diagnosis of ketosis in dairy cows. Ninety Holstein-Friesian dairy cows (60 healthy and 30 ketosis cases) were selected and divided into a Ketosis group (K), and a Control group (C). We measured serum FGF-21 and other biochemical parameters by commercial ELISA kits. In a combined population of all 90 cows, we found that serum FGF-21 level was lower (P < 0.001) in cows suffering from ketosis. When the β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) level increased over 1.2 mmol/L, the FGF-21 level tended to decline below 300.85 pg/ml. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) for serum FGF-21 for diagnosis of fatty liver was 0.952-0.025 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.904, 1.000] which was higher than the AUC-ROC for glucose (Glc) and other tested parameters. We concluded that FGF-21 could be a diagnostic parameter in the evaluation and auxiliary diagnosis of changes in the energy metabolism state, and serum FGF-21 measurement would have a considerable clinical impact and lead to greater profitability in the dairy industry.