Blood-Component Changes and Therapeutic Effects Produced in Ketotic Cows by Orally Administered Glycerol

Abstract

Investigations of blood-component changes and therapeutic effects produced in cows with subclinical and clinical ketosis by orally administered glycerol showed that glucose and free glycerol concentrations increased at 0.5 hrs after single oral administrations of 500ml, 1, 000ml, and 2, 000ml and that, from 0.5 to 6 hrs and at 24 hrs after administration, these levels were significantly higher than they had been before administration. Serum concentrations of β hydroxybutyric acid decreased from 4 to 6 hrs and at 24 hrs after single glycerol administration. One or two days after initial administration, appetite and rumen movement were restored in 10 of 20 ketotic cows kept on a daily dose of 1, 000ml of glycerol for three days. Ketone bodies disappeared from the urine three days after initial administration. These findings suggest that oral administration of glycerol may have a therapeutic effect on ketosis.