Evaluation of Glycated Albumin as a Metabolic Marker for Marbling in Commercial Feeder Cattle

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine if glycated albumin is associated with marbling in beef cattle. Crossbred steers (n=113) were assigned randomly to different treatments to determine the effects of feeding strategies (with anabolic growth implants, CONV; without growth implants, NAT) on blood proteins, glucose, and insulin. Total serum protein and albumin were not different between marbling scores and feeding strategies. Glycated albumin was not correlated with marbling scores. Plasma glucose concentration was greater in steers with a marbling score of slight compared to all other marbling scores, and NAT feeding strategy had greater concentration than CONV (P = 0.02). Plasma insulin in steers with marbling scores of modest and moderate were greater than small (P = 0.01). However, they were all similar to marbling scores of slight and slightly abundant. More research is necessary to determine whether glycated albumin is associated with marbling in beef cattle.