Pancreatic-cell function of a newborn Belgian Blue calf is influenced by its birth weight and parity of the dam

摘要: The association between birth size and activity of pancreatic ß-cells was determined for 46 newborn double-muscled Belgian Blue calves out of 20 primiparous (PP) and 26 multiparous (MP) dams. All calves were born by elective Caesarean section and separated from the dam once they had received colostrum. After an overnight fast, the 3 day old calves were weighed and their withers height was measured to calculate the body mass index (BMI, body weight/height²). Blood samples were obtained immediately before and exactly 10 minutes after the intravenous infusion of a standardized glucose bolus (150 mg glucose/kg body weight). Calves from MP dams were significantly (P< 0.001) larger than calves of PP dams, both in weight (56.6±7.19 vs. 44.1±6.15 kg) and in BMI (102.1±9.38 vs. 87.1±7.90). Male calves (n= 20) of both PP and MP dams tended (P< 0.1) to be heavier (53.5±9.0 kg) than females (n= 26, 49.0±9.01). The ratio of basal insulin to glucose concentration (I0/G0), used as an indicator of insulin resistance, was similar in both parity groups and in both genders, with an overall mean of 1.1±0.83.Following the glucose administration, a similar increase in glucose was seen for female (1.8±0.67 mmol/l) and male calves (1.8±0.62 mmol/l). Calves of MP dams tended to have a slightly larger increase in glucose than calves of PP dams (respectively 2.0±0.62 and 1.6±0.64, P= 0.09). Insulin levels increased significantly (P< 0.001) following the glucose bolus in all calves, but achieved a higher level in MP calves in comparison to PP calves (P= 0.001). In the PP group, insulin increased with only 9.7±8.48 mU/L, compared to an increase of 24 …