The metabolism of palmitate in liver tissue slices also was more pronounced in OF vs. RE prepartum with no significant differences postpartum. Those data clearly indicated that the higher energy prepartum had a strong metabolic effect during dietary treatment and a carry-over effect during early post-partum,XEN445 considering that in the postpartum the diet was the same for the two groups. To further understand the differential effects on metabolism and inflammation status between the two groups and to better interpret the transcriptomics differences in liver, we have performed analysis of an additional 17 blood biomarkers plus a re-analysis of total protein concentration. As indicated by the numerically higher GGT and significantly higher bilirubin, the data suggest that during the prepartal period the liver from cows in RE experienced a more pronounced state of distress. This might be partly due to the inflammatory-like conditions in KX1-004, as indicated by the greater concentration of haptoglobin and lower concentration of zinc. However, in our study the inflammatory-like conditions did not seem to be pronounced as indicated by the lack of differences in the plasma concentration of indices of negative APP such as albumin, paraoxonase, and cholesterol. The moderately higher inflammatory-like conditions prepartum in RE vs. OF cows might have been a consequence of a dietary protein deficiency because the cows in this group were only allowed to consume feed to meet 80% of the overall dietary requirements including protein. This conclusion is partly supported by a previous study in rats, where an acute protein deficiency induced a low-grade inflammation. In contrast, during the early postpartum period the blood biomarkers indicated that liver from cows in OF experienced a more pronounced state of distress, i.e., numerically greater GGT at 28 d and a larger increase soon after parturition, and larger bilirubin. The lower concentration of haptoglobin in OF vs. RE postpartum and the lack of difference in negative APP suggests that the observed stress response postpartum in OF vs. RE was not a consequence of higher inflammation but potentially a consequence of greater TAG accumulation in liver.