Relationships between plasma methylmalonic acid and ruminal succinate in cobalt-deficient and -repleted sheep

Abstract

We measured methylmalonic acid (MMA) in plasma and succinate in the rumen during the depletion of sheep to a state of severe cobalt deficiency and repletion by various forms of supplementation. Groups of 10, cobalt-deficient weaners were allocated to one of 4 treatments: no supplement, 0.1 or 4.0 mg/day of cobalt as a solution of CoSO4.7H2O per os, or intramuscular vitamin B12. Plasma concentrations of MMA were elevated above the normal range (5 µmol/L) after 35 days on the cobalt-deficient diet, before a reduction in feed intake and while liveweights were still increasing. In all 3 supplemented groups of sheep, plasma vitamin B12 concentrations increased to normal levels within 10 days of supplementation (P < 0.001). Plasma MMA concentrations were reduced to normal levels within 10 days with vitamin B12 supplementation but took 31 days with oral cobalt supplementation (P < 0.001). Plasma MMA concentration in the unsupplemented group continued to rise and remain high for the duration of the experiment and did not show the peak and decline to levels indistinguishable from cobalt adequate levels as observed by others. Rumen succinate concentrations were elevated within 6 days of sheep being introduced to a cobalt-deficient diet and in the unsupplemented sheep remained elevated for the duration of measurement. This rise in rumen succinate was seen at a wider range of cobalt intakes than previously reported. In both oral cobalt treatments, vitamin B12 concentrations increased (P < 0.001) and succinate concentrations decreased (P < 0.001) in the rumen to normal levels within 6 days of supplementation. However, the vitamin B12 provided to the sheep by injection was not recycled to the rumen to any effective degree, as demonstrated by the persistence of high rumen succinate concentrations. The ability of the vitamin B12-supplemented sheep to maintain higher rates of wool growth than deficient sheep, while still exhibiting elevated succinate concentrations in the rumen, demonstrates that overcoming the blockage of the methylmalonyl CoA mutase pathway in the rumen is not essential for restoring metabolic pathways such as those responsible for wool growth. This work contributes to the knowledge of plasma MMA and rumen succinate as useful indicators of functional cobalt status and cobalt intake in sheep.