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Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Milk Collection in the Rat Using Capillary Tubes and Estimation of Milk Fat Content by Creamatocrit
Published on: December 16, 2015
Lipid feeding and milk fat depression
Thomas C Jenkins1, Kevin J Harvatine2
1Department of Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Clemson University, 117 Poole Agricultural Center, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
Abstract:
Diets fed to cattle contain mostly unsaturated fatty acids supplied in grains and forages, by-products, and fat supplements. Lipid intake by dairy cattle must be restricted to prevent alterations of microbial populations in the rumen that can negatively affect milk yield. Unsaturated fatty acids consumed by cattle are extensively metabolized through biohydrogenation, intermediates of which include conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and trans-monoenoic acid isomers. Three specific CLA intermediates of biohydrogenation have been shown to cause milk fat depression in dairy cattle through coordinated suppression of mammary lipogenic genes by a transcription factor that is a central regulator of lipid synthesis.
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