Abstract

The combination of metabolic profiling by a combination of broad-spectrum analytical methods and multivariate statistics offers new opportunities for obtaining a global over-view of metabolism. It also facilitates the discovery of metabolites which can serve as useful markers of biological processes or states (“biomarkers”). Fast liquid chromatography and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry with collisioninduced dissociation in an ion-trap (fast LC-ESI-MS/MS) has been applied to determine metabolic profiles of bovine urine samples. The samples were collected twice daily from groups of five lactating dairy cows grazing in four different forage management systems comprising different spatial and temporal allocations of ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens). The data have been analysed by different multivariate statistical methods, and a number of candidate biomarkers of forage feed and diurnal processes have been identified.

KM, Khojasteh, NK Emam Jome, and RV Torshizy

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 66, Napier, 206-208, 2006