Circadian rhythms of redox states and total locomotor activity in dairy cattle

Abstract

We want to study the circadian rhythm of dROMs and anti-oxidative power in dairy cattle during dry period and the possible involvement of the circadian organization of rest/activity cycles in the fluctuation of redox state. For this purpose we recorded TLA in five clinically healthy Bruna Italian dairy cattle by means of an actigraphy-based data logger, Actiwatch-Mini<sup>®</sup>. Blood samples were collected every 3 hours over a 48-hour period for the assessment of free radicals (dROMs) and the antioxidant power: antioxidant barrier (Oxy-ads) and thiol-antioxidant barrier (SHp). All animals were in the same productive period (dry) and they were housed in the same stable under natural photoperiod and ambient temperature. One-way repeated measure ANOVA was used to determine a statistical significant effect of time on the studied parameters. A trigonometric statistical model was applied to characterize the main rhythmic parameters according to the single cosinor procedure. A significant effect of time on all studied parameters was observed. They showed a diurnal acrophase and different degrees of robustness of rhythms. In conclusion, we can claim that there is a synergism between the dROM circadian rhythm and the circadian rhythm of anti-oxidative power. These rhythms do not have any implication for the issue of causation with the TLA circadian rhythms.