Carnitine secretion into milk of ruminants

Abstract

SummaryTotal acid-soluble carnitine concentration in cow's, goat's and ewe's milk was 117, 101 and 872 nmol/ml respectively, of which acetylcarnitine made up 30% in goats, 10% in cows and 11% in ewes. The concentration of carnitine in the arterial blood of goats decreased significantly (P< 0·01) with the onset of lactation from 18·1 to 8·4nmol/ml and during lactation in goats and cows there was a significant arterio-venous difference of carnitine across the udder, with mean extractions of 14 and 5% respectively. Calculation of the udder uptake of carnitine, from these figures and from udder blood-flows, showed that in goats the amount lost in the milk was much less than that taken from the blood, but in cows about the same. Two groups of lactating ewes on low and high nutritional planes were sampled at 2-weekly intervals from 2 to 8 weeks of lactation. The concentrations of total acid-soluble carnitine and acetylcarnitine in the milk were similar in the 2 groups and remained relatively constant over this period, but the total acid-soluble carnitine concentration in jugular blood from the ewes on the low nutritional plane was significantly (P< 0·01) higher than from the ewes on the higher nutritional plane from the fourth week of lactation. The total acid-soluble carnitine concentration in liver of goats was 290 nmol/g wet wt; mammary gland, 324; kidney-cortex, 692; heart, 2030 and skeletal muscle, 14300. Carnitine acetyltransferase (E.C. 2.3.1.7) activity of mammary tissue from lactating ewes was 0·6 μmol per min per g wet wt of which approximately half appeared to be ‘latent’ or membrane bound. Acetate thiokinase (E.C. 6.2.1.1) activity in this tissue was found to be 1·5 μmol per min per g wet wt and was predominantly localized in the cytoplasm. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase (E.C. 2.3.1.21) activity in the same tissue was 0·8 μmol per min per g wet wt while no acetylcarnitine hydrolase activity could be detected. The results suggest that carnitine in mammary tissue is extracted from the blood for the oxidation of both acetate and long-chain fatty acids and that some is lost in the milk.