First study on volatile organic compounds exhaled by dairy cows under experimental sub-acute ruminal acidosis

摘要

High producing ruminants are fed rich-concentrate diets, which can lead to digestive disorders such as Sub-Acute Ruminal Acidosis (SARA). This disorder characterized by abnormal and intermittent drops in rumen pH alters animal production and welfare and increases economic losses. The reference method to assess SARA is to use ruminal boluses measuring pH, however this technology remains expensive and little used on farms. When an animal is under SARA, metabolic disturbances may occur in some organs, with ultimately changes in composition including its volatolome that can be recovered in the exhaled air. Many studies show in humans that the volatolome is particularly promising to reveal physio-pathologic situations, such as the development of diseases(Shirasu and Touhara, 2011), or the exposure to some contaminants (Defois et al., 2017). In this pilot study, we propose to make the proof-of-concept that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled air of dairy cows undergoing SARA may be different from control cows.