POSTPARTUM FATTY LIVER IN HIGH-PRODUCING DAIRY-COWS IN PRACTICE AND IN ANIMAL STUDIES - THE CONNECTION WITH HEALTH, PRODUCTION AND REPRODUCTION PROBLEMS

Hepatic lipidosis postpartum (pp) in high-producing dairy cows is asso ciated with an increased vulnerability to infectious diseases, an incr eased frequency of metabolic diseases and substantial reproduction pro blems. To enable research that aims at elucidation of the relationship between the hepatic lipidosis postpartum on one hand and the aforemen tioned problems on the other, an animal model for hepatic lipidosis wa s developed. Using this model, evidence was found that the sudden and substantial increase of hepatic uptake of free fatty acids contributes to accumulation of triacyglycerol in the liver. As far as the increas ed susceptibility for infectious diseases is concerned, results were o btained that indicate that in cows with hepatic lipidosis, the immune response is suppressed. With respect to the fertility problems, with t he help of in vitro tests, it was found that the quality of oocytes co llected in cows with hepatic lipidosis 80-140 days postpartum was decr eased.