Abstract
Heat stress is one of the main threats to dairy cow production; in order to resist heat stress, the animal exhibits a variety of physiological and hormonal responses driven by complex molecular mechanisms. Heat-stressed cows have high insulin activity, decreased non-esterified fatty acids, and increased glucose disposal. Glucose, as one of the important biochemical components of the energetic metabolism, is affected at multiple levels by the reciprocal changes in hormonal secretion and adipose metabolism under the influence of heat stress in dairy cattle. Therefore, alterations in glucose metabolism have negative consequences for the animal’s health, production, and reproduction under heat stress. Lactose is a major sugar of milk which is affected by the reshuffle of the whole-body energetic metabolism during heat stress, contributing towards milk production losses. Glucose homeostasis is maintained in the body by one of the glucose transporters’ family called facilitative glucose transporters (GLUTs encoded by SLC2A genes). Besides the glucose level, the GLUTs expression level is also significantly changed under the influence of heat stress. This review aims to describe the effect of heat stress on systemic glucose metabolism, facilitative glucose transporters, and its consequences on health and milk production.
Highlights
Glucose is a universal fuel for the energy metabolism and biological synthesis pathways of all animal cell types [1]
The transportation of glucose through the plasma membrane is governed by the two well-known processes named as passive—that is, an energy-independent process regulated by the facilitated glucose transporters family (GLUTS) encoded by the SLC2A genes
Glucose is a major fuel for the body functions as well as milk production and is regulated according to the metabolic changes governed by high insulin level and tissue-specific glucose transporters Glucose Transporters (GLUTs) during heat stress
Summary
Glucose is a universal fuel for the energy metabolism and biological synthesis pathways of all animal cell types [1]. Molecular changes in the gene expression of heat shock proteins [13] and reshuffles in amino acid concentration and skeletal muscle metabolism bears major consequences for the heat stress effect on dairy cattle [11]. All these physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses make the animal survive in a harsh and stressful environment [14]. Dairy goat shows a significant decrease in the whole-body turnover of glucose under heat stress [21] This alteration in glucose is due to the acclamatory adaptations to heat stress, which include reduced feed intake along with a metabolic reshuffle governed by hormonal changes. This review gives up-to-date information about the structural, functional, and molecular characterization of the glucose transporters in cattle and its possible role in heat tolerance
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