Hypophagic effects of propionate increase with elevated hepatic acetyl coenzyme A concentration for cows in the early postpartum period

Thirty multiparous lactating dairy cows were used in a randomized block design experiment to evaluate factors related to the degree of hypophagia from intraruminal infusion of propionate. Cows between 3 and 40 d postpartum at the start of the experiment were blocked by calving date and randomly assigned to treatment. Treatments were 1.0 mol/L propionic acid or 1.0 mol/L acetic acid adjusted to pH 6 with sodium hydroxide and infused at 0.5 mol of volatile fatty acid/h from 6 h before feeding until 12 h after feeding. Propionate infusion decreased dry matter intake by 20.0%, total metabolizable energy intake by 22.5%, and plasma β-hydroxybutyrate concentration by 54.3% compared with acetate infusion. Effects of treatment on dry matter intake were related to concentration of acetyl coenzyme A (CoA) in the liver; hypophagic effects of propionate compared with acetate increased as liver acetyl CoA concentration increased. Hypophagic effects of propionate are greater for cows with elevated concentrations of acetyl CoA in the liver.