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Use of a breath test to determine the fate of swallowed fluids in cattle
L M McLeay1, V R Carruthers, P G Neil
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Objective:
To investigate a [13C]octanoic acid breath test as a means of detecting reticular groove contraction in cattle.
Animals:
19 adult dairy cows with fistulated rumen, 10 yearling bulls, and 6 yearling steers.
Procedure:
Cows were given 200 mg of [13C]octanoic acid in the caudal portion of the rumen, reticulum, or omasum/abomasum through the reticulo-omasal orifice, or were given the same dose of label with a drench of water or sodium bicarbonate. Collected breath was analyzed for 13C in CO2 for up to 3 hours. Breath of yearlings was analyzed for 13C in CO2 over 20 minutes after drenching with 200 mg of [13C]octanoic acid with water or sodium chloride and after sucking 200 mg of [13C]octanoic acid with molasses and water.
Results:
In cows, enrichment of 13C in breath CO2 peaked at 20 to 30 minutes after placement of [13C]octanoic acid through the orifice, compared with a lower peak at 60 and 90 minutes after placement in the reticulum and rumen, respectively. The maximal increase in enrichment after placement of [13C]octanoic acid in the reticulum did not overlap with the minimal increase when placed through the reticulo-omasal orifice. Enrichment values in cows after drenching were consistent with values obtained after direct placement of [13C]octanoic acid. In yearlings, the inclusion of sodium chloride in the drench greatly increased enrichment, compared with water, but enrichment was greatest after sucking of the molasses, water, and [13C]octanoic acid combination.
Conclusions And Clinical Relevance:
This breath test provides a simple, repeatable, nonradioactive, and noninvasive means of detecting the fate of swallowed fluids in cattle, thus revealing the route taken of orally administered therapeutic agents or nutrients.