Researchers have found that the happy hormone serotonin can boost levels of calcium in the blood and milk of dairy cows.
Serotonin is considered a happy hormone because it alleviates mood, helping keep depression at bay. In a study published in the Journal of Endocrinology, the researchers detailed how daily infusions of serotonin increased calcium levels in the blood and milk of Holstein and Jersey cows, respectively.
Milk is in demand because it is a rich source of calcium. Unfortunately, this demand can take its toll on dairy farms, especially with about 5 to 10 percent of dairy cows in North America suffering from hypocalcaemia, or low levels of calcium. Risks of hypocalcaemia are particularly high right before and after a cow gives birth.
Aside from simply affecting the level of calcium found in milk produced by cows, hypocalcaemia is a major health threat to dairy cows because it is associated with problems in the immune and digestive systems. The condition then also poses a problem for dairy farmers because they rely on regular pregnancies and high milk yield for profitability.
Several studies have been carried out to find a treatment for hypocalcaemia but there is little research done toward preventing it. Serotonin was found to have a hand in maintaining calcium levels in mice, so researchers from the current study focused their work on examining the hormone's effects on dairy cows.
The researchers infused 24 cows with a chemical that converts into serotonin for the period running to the subjects giving birth. Half of the cows were Holstein and the other half were Jersey. Calcium levels in both the blood and the milk of the cows were measured for the duration of the experiment.
Based on their findings, the researchers saw that serotonin was able to improve calcium levels in the Holstein and Jersey cows. However, the hormone affected the dairy cows differently, with Holstein cows having higher calcium levels in their blood but lower calcium in their milk and the reverse for Jersey cows.
Additionally, the serotonin treatment did not affect the levels of other hormones, how much the cows ate and how much milk was produced, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison's Laura Hernandez, who led the research team.
The researchers' next step is to investigate the molecular mechanism that guided serotonin in improving blood calcium levels for Holsteins and milk calcium levels in Jerseys to determine if serotonin infusions can be used as a way to prevent hypocalcaemia in dairy cows.
Samantha Weaver, Rupert Bruckmaier, Austin Prichard, Thomas Crenshaw, Elizabeth Endres, Matthew Akins, Stefanie Newhouse, Peter Crump and Tonia Peters also contributed to the study.
Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture | Flickr
