Comprehensive serum, follicular fluid, and ovarian tissue profiling reveals systemic metabolic alterations in high-yielding dairy cows with postpartum inactive ovaries

Q: What is the main research gap this study addresses?

The study targets the lack of a comprehensive metabolic profile for postpartum inactive ovaries, despite reports of single-metabolite or partial metabolic characteristics.

Q: How were metabolic changes measured across sample types?

Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry compared metabolic changes in serum, follicular fluid, and ovarian tissue between IO cows and healthy controls.

Q: Which metabolic categories showed significant pathway alterations in IO cows?

Pathway analysis indicated significant changes in pathways related to amino acid, energy, carbohydrate, lipid, and nucleotide metabolism, including valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis.

Sep 29, 2026

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Inactive ovaries (IO) are a common cause of postpartum anestrus in high-yielding dairy cows, yet a comprehensive metabolic profile has been lacking. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry was used to compare metabolic changes across serum, follicular fluid, and ovarian tissue in six multiparous Holstein cows each from IO and healthy control groups. Cows with IO showed altered milk yield, BCS, follicle development, hormone and mineral levels, and distinct differential metabolites affecting multiple metabolic pathways.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Inactive ovaries in postpartum dairy cows

Definitions and contributing factors

Role of follicular fluid and ovarian environment

Song et al. BMC Veterinary Research (2026) 22:2 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-05153-5](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-05153-5) BMC Veterinary Research RESEARCH Open Access Comprehensive serum, follicular fluid, and ovarian tissue profiling reveals systemic metabolic alterations in high-yielding dairy cows with postpartum inactive ovaries Yuxi Song 1, Xuejie Jiang 1, Yu Hao 1, Rui Sun 1, Yunlong Bai 1, Chuang Xu2* and Cheng Xia 1* Abstract Background Inactive ovaries (IO) commonly cause postpartum anestrus in high-yielding dairy cows. Despite the widespread reporting of single-metabolic characteristics of postpartum IO, a comprehensive metabolic profile is lacking. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry was used to compare the metabolic changes in theserum, follicular fluid (FF), and ovarian tissue of six multiparous Holstein cows from each of the IO and healthy control (HC) groups. Results Cows with IO had a higher milk yield during the previous lactation, poorer BCS, smaller largest follicle (LF) diameter at 63 ± 3 days in milk, and slower LF growth rate than HC cows (p < 0. 01) . They also exhibited higher serum levels of non-esterified fatty acids and aspartate aminotransferase and lower levels of estradiol, progesterone, insulin-like growth factor 1, calcium, and phosphorus (p < 0. 01) . Under IO conditions, 40, 51, and 14 differential metabolites were identified in serum, FF, and ovarian tissues, respectively. 12-Methyltridecanoic acid was consistently upregulated in cows with IO compared to HC cows across all samples (p < 0. 01) . Metabolomic pathway analysis identified significant alterations in six, three, and two metabolic pathways related to IO in the serum, FF, and ovarian tissues, respectively, affecting amino acid, energy, carbohydrate, lipid, and nucleotide metabolism. Valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis showed significant changes (p < 0. 05) in all samples. Conclusion In summary, these metabolic changes in cows with IO reflect a complex response to metabolic, oxidative, and inflammatory stresses. Our study provides the most comprehensive metabolic profile for cows with postpartum IO. Keywords Dairy cow, Inactive ovary, Metabolomics, LC–MS/MS, Serum, Follicular fluid, Ovary *Correspondence: Chuang Xu [xuchuang7175@163.com](xuchuang7175@163.com)[ ](xuchuang7175@163.com)Cheng Xia [xcwlxyf2014@163.com](xcwlxyf2014@163.com) 1Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Bovine Diseases, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Daqing 163319, China 2College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Yuan Ming Yuan West Road No. 2, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China © The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by/4.0/. Song et al. BMC Veterinary Research (2026) 22:2 Introduction Inactive ovaries (IO) is a prevalent postpartum ovarian condition in high-yielding dairy cows, with an 8.5% incidence rate during lactation in the absence of intervention [1]. Around 20% of dairy cows in anestrus exhibit IO atthe beginning of breeding program [2

FAQs

What is the main research gap this study addresses?

The study targets the lack of a comprehensive metabolic profile for postpartum inactive ovaries, despite reports of single-metabolite or partial metabolic characteristics.

How were metabolic changes measured across sample types?

Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry compared metabolic changes in serum, follicular fluid, and ovarian tissue between IO cows and healthy controls.

Which metabolic categories showed significant pathway alterations in IO cows?

Pathway analysis indicated significant changes in pathways related to amino acid, energy, carbohydrate, lipid, and nucleotide metabolism, including valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis.

Sep 29, 2026

Upload by Dipper