Activity of Plasma-Protein C in Dairy Cows With Left-sided Displacement of the Abomasum and Fatty Liver Syndrome

Abstract

Fatty infiltration of the liver, occurring within 1 to 5 weeks postpartum, and due to excessive lipomobilisation, is the most common liver disease in dairy cows. Case studies showed that 91% of cases with left-sided displacement of the abomasum (LDA), accompanied by suppression of appetite and enhanced lipomobilisation, occurred during this period². Our experience indicates that nearly 4% of cows with LOA, admitted for surgical treatment, develop hepatic failure in the postoperative period and die in hepatic coma or are slaughterd for that reason³.

It has been shown in humans that the plasma activity of Protein C, synthesized in the liver as a Vitamin K-dependant \ anticoagulant factor, decreases in severe liver disease. Therefore, dairy cows suffering from LDA were studied in order to gain information about the correlation between plasma-protein C-activity and hepatic lipidosis.