EFFECTS of BORON SUPPLEMENTATION on DAIRY CALVES’ HEALTH: A METABOLOMICS STUDY

Boron supplementation has been demonstrated to exert many beneficial effects on animals. The first metabolomic investigation into the effects of boron on dairy calf health is covered in this study. For two months, healthy newborn calves were enrolled in one control group and three experimental groups. Boron was added to the milk of the experimental groups in in-creasing doses. Biochemical profile, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) metabolomic pro-files on days 0, 30, and 60, and daily health scores were determined. Worsening of health score parameters was more common in the control calves, and they were prone to getting sick. Enzyme increases due to birth stress were remarkable. Significant increases in the passive colostral adequacy parameter γ-glutamyl transferase were also not maintained with boron ad-dition. A total of 33 water-soluble and 17 lipid-soluble serum metabolites were determined. Increases in glucose, fructose, alanine, cholate, betaine, and 3-hydroxybutyrate levels, and decreases in lactate, isovaleric acid, valine, leucine, tyrosine, and 2-hydroxybutyrate levels were observed. Phosphoglyceride levels were increased, while the levels of different choles-terol types were found to be decreased. From our data, it emerged that better growth perfor-mance, increased gluconeogenesis, and liver development were associated with boron sup-plementation. To interpret the effects of boron supplementation on the health of dairy calves, NMR-based metabolomic assessment has outperformed biochemical analysis.