Effects of Protein Sources on Rumen Fermentation and Metabolites in Periparturient Cows

Sixty periparturient cows were fed diets with four different protein sources to measure effects on rumen fermentation, microbial communities, and metabolites. The dataset includes results for rumen pH, enzyme levels, microbial composition, serum indicators, nutrient digestibility, and hundreds of differentially expressed metabolites in feces and urine. Author Yaqiong Ren published this 2.4 MB CSV file under a CC-BY-4.0 license on figshare in 2026.

Use Cases

• Compare the impact of soybean, rapeseed, linseed, and sunflower protein sources on rumen microbial communities.
• Analyze differential metabolite expression in feces and urine linked to specific dietary protein sources.
• Investigate correlations between dietary protein, serum indicators like insulin and growth hormone, and immune response in periparturient cows.
• Model nutrient utilization and nitrogen balance in dairy cows based on experimental diet data.

Strengths

• Experimental design includes 60 cows with similar body weights and gestation lengths, divided into four controlled diet groups.
• Measures multiple biological systems: rumen fermentation parameters, microbial composition, serum indicators, nutrient digestibility, and metabolite profiles.
• Results include specific counts of differentially expressed metabolites, such as 498 in feces for one test group.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, requiring manual inspection after download.
• The 2.4 MB file size suggests a relatively small dataset, which may limit statistical power for some analyses.
• Data may reflect bias inherent to the specific experimental conditions and animal cohort studied.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Yaqiong Ren.

Collection Method

Controlled animal feeding experiment with sixty periparturient cows randomly assigned to four dietary treatment groups.

Time Range

The study measured parameters at calving day (0 d) and 30 days postpartum (PP30 d).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-03 11:04:59.