Functions of Liver and Adipose Tissue in Metabolic Disorder Diseases of Ruminants

Most of the metabolic diseases of ruminant—ketosis, fatty liver, ruminal acidosis—occur within the first month of lactation. Furthermore, metabolic disorders have economic impacts on the farms due to reductions in milk yield, increased risk of culling and mortality, increased incidence and duration of common postpartum diseases, such as metritis, gastrointestinal disorders, displaced abomasum, mastitis, milk fever. As an essential metabolic organ, the liver has an important role in preserving and regulating the metabolism of lipids, glucose, proteins in the body as well as energy metabolism. Adipose tissue has long been known as the primary site for energy storage in the form of neutral triacylglycerol and controls systemic energy balance by regulating the lipid mobilization and distribution in the body. Besides, adipose tissue acts as an endocrine organ that produces numerous bioactive factors, such as TNF-α, IL-6, leptin, adiponectin and resistin, which communicate with other organs and affect metabolic homeostasis. Notably, crosstalk between adipose tissue and liver is emerging as a critical contributor to homeostasis of nutrient and energy in ruminants. Thus, the liver and adipose tissue functions are pivotal in the context of metabolic dysfunction of ruminants.

Although ruminants have developed sophisticated and efficient mechanisms to adapt to metabolic stress, they often fail to successfully overcome it, thereby developing metabolic disorders including ketosis and fatty liver. Under both normal and pathophysiological conditions, liver and adipose tissue participate in maintaining the whole-body metabolic homeostasis by regulating various cellular processes and signaling pathways. Thus, the aim of this Research Topic is to highlight the regulation roles of liver and adipose tissue in the metabolic disorder diseases of ruminants such as dairy cows, sheep and beef cattle.

A Research Topic on “Functions of liver and adipose tissue in metabolic disorder diseases of ruminants” has the bullet points as below: 1) the alterations of liver and adipose tissue functions in the occurrence of metabolic disorder diseases of ruminants, 2) the molecular mechanism of liver and adipose tissue dysfunction in ruminants, 3) the crosstalk between liver and adipose tissue in the control of metabolic homeostasis of ruminants, 4) the potential strategy to detect and treat liver damage and adipose tissue dysfunction in the development and progress of ruminant metabolic dysfunction.