Diets rich in starch improve the efficiency of amino acids use by the mammary gland in lactating Jersey cows

The objective of this study was to test whether the greater milk N yield usually observed when feeding diets based on starch versus fiber was the consequence of a higher efficiency of AA use across the mammary gland and whether this effect depended on dietary crude protein (CP) content. Five midlactation multicatheterized Jersey cows were fed 4 isoenergetic diets to provide 2 different carbohydrate compositions (CHO; rich in starch vs. rich in fiber) crossed by 2 different protein levels (12.0 vs. 16.5% CP) and according to a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Blood samples were collected at the end of each treatment period from the mesenteric artery and mammary vein to determine mammary net nutrient fluxes. The nature of nutrients taken up by the mammary gland differed between starch and fiber diets: mammary net uptake of acetate increased with fiber versus starch diets, whereas mammary net uptake and clearance rate of glucose increased with starch versus fiber diets but only at a normal CP level. In addition, the mammary net uptake of total, essential, and branched-chain AA (BCAA) was significantly enhanced (12, 11, and 26% on average, respectively) when feeding starch versus fiber diets, in line with a greater milk protein yield (7% on average) and regardless of the CP level. The conversion efficiency of plasma essential AA into milk protein was improved with starch diets (33.7% on average) compared with fiber diets (27.5% on average). This higher mammary efficiency use of AA with starch diets was accompanied by a greater fractional extraction and clearance rate of AA belonging to group 2 (BCAA, Lys, Thr) by the mammary gland in absence of effects of CHO on either the mammary blood flow or the mammary AA metabolism. The positive effect of starch diets on mammary clearance rate and uptake of BCAA observed in this study was further improved when increasing dietary CP from 12.0 to 16.5%. Concerning the individual AA, Leu was the only whose mammary uptake accounted for a higher proportion of total essential AA in diets based on starch versus fiber and whose mammary uptake to milk output ratio was modified (together with Pro). Diets rich in starch versus fiber improved the mammary AA utilization; however, some CHO × CP interactions on mammary metabolism support the concept of different metabolic pathways by which starch diets improve milk protein yield at the 2 studied CP levels. Results from this study suggest that mammary Leu and glucose metabolism can be modulated by the supply of glucogenic nutrients to the mammary gland.