Relationship of anogenital distance with fertility in nulliparous Holstein heifers

Carrelli, J.E.; Gobikrushanth, M.; Corpron, McKenzie; Rajesh, I.; Sandberg, W.; Colazo, M.G.; Ahmadzadeh, A.; Oba, M.; Ambrose, D.J.

doi:10.3168/jds.2020-19940

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Anogenital distance measurements differed (P < 0.01) by age from birth until approximately 16 mo, and were normally distributed in heifer calves and within the stages of the estrous cycle, gestation, and lactation in mature cows. Similarly, AGD was normally distributed in studies with larger numbers of cattle (Gobik-rushanth et al, 2017;Akbarinejad et al, 2019;Carrelli et al, 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Gobikrushanth et al (2017) recently characterized AGD in Canadian Holstein cows and reported a greater pregnancy per AI and cumulative pregnancy risk by 250 DIM in first-and second-parity cows with short AGD (≤127 mm) than in those with long AGD (>127 mm). Other studies have also reported such inverse associations between AGD and indices of fertility in dairy cattle (Akbarinejad et al, 2019;Carrelli et al, 2021Carrelli et al, , 2022Grala et al, 2021). A heritability estimate of 0.37 was later reported for AGD in Irish Holstein-Friesian cows (Gobikrushanth et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

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Repeatability of anogenital distance measurements from birth to maturity and at different physiological states in female Holstein cattle

Rajesh

Gobikrushanth

Carrelli

et al. 2022

Journal of Dairy Science

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The inverse association between anogenital distance (AGD; the distance from the center of the anus to the base of the clitoris) and fertility, its moderate heritability, and high variability reported in dairy cattle make AGD a promising candidate for further exploration as a reproductive phenotype. In addition to heritability, repeatability (i.e., consistency in measurements taken at different time points) is important for a reproductive phenotype to be considered useful in genetic selection. Therefore, our primary objective was to determine the repeatability of AGD from birth to breeding age (≈16 mo) in Holstein heifer calves, and during different stages of the estrous cycle, gestation, and lactation in Holstein cows. We also determined the associations among AGD, height (at the hip), and body weight (BW) at birth. In calves (n = 48), we recorded BW (kg) and height (cm) at birth and measured AGD (mm) at approximately 0, 2, 6, 9, 12, and 16 mo of age. In cows, AGD was measured at different stages of the estrous cycle (proestrus, estrus, metestrus and diestrus; n = 20), gestation (30, 90, 180, and 270 d; n = 78), and lactation (30-300 d in milk in 30-d increments; n = 30). Calf height and BW at birth had a weak positive association with AGD at birth. The AGD increased linearly from birth to breeding age, but there was no association between the AGD at birth and at breeding age in heifers. Although any 2 consecutive AGD measurements were correlated, 6 mo was the earliest age at which AGD was moderately correlated (r = 0.41) with that of breeding-age heifers. The AGD was neither influenced by the different stages of estrous cycle nor lactation and remained highly repeatable (r ≥ 0.95). Although AGD measurements at 30, 90, and 180 d of gestation (126.9, 126.7, and 127.7 mm, respectively) were strongly correlated (r ≥ 0.97) with each other, AGD at 270 d of gestation (142.8 mm) differed from AGD at all earlier stages of gestation. In summary, AGD measured at birth did not reflect AGD at breeding age in heifers, but AGD measurements in cows had high repeatability at all stages of the estrous cycle, gestation, and lactation, except at 270 d of gestation. Therefore, AGD could be measured reliably at any of the aforesaid physiological states in cows due to its high repeatability, except during late gestation. The earliest gestational stage when pregnancy-associated increase in AGD occurred, however, could not be definitively established in the present study.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Repeatability of anogenital distance measurements from birth to maturity and at different physiological states in female Holstein cattle

Rajesh

Gobikrushanth

Carrelli

et al. 2022

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…Anogenital distance was measured once during the lactation from the center of the anus to the base of the clitoris, as described by Carrelli et al (2021) using 20.3cm stainless-steel digital calipers (Pro.Point, Princess Auto Ltd.) by the same technician trained in AGD measurement (mean DIM ± SE at AGD measurement was 159 ± 7). Anogenital distance data from cows that were up to 14 d after calving and pregnant cows that were >180 d of gestation at the time of AGD measurement were excluded from all analyses.…”

Section: Anogenital Distance Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the inverse association between AGD and fertility in dairy cows first reported by Gobikrushanth et al (2017) has been confirmed by others in dairy cows (Akbarinejad et al, 2019;Grala et al, 2021;Carrelli et al, 2022), dairy heifers (Carrelli et al, 2021) and partially in beef cattle (Battista, 2019), the underlying physiological factors contributing to fertility differences between short-and long-AGD cattle have not been investigated. Determining the associations between AGD and estrous behavior characteristics, ovarian function and progesterone concentrations will help improve our understanding of the mechanisms at play.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Anogenital distance (AGD), defined as the distance from the center of the anus to the clitoris in dairy cattle (Gobikrushanth et al, 2017), has been studied recently as a novel reproductive phenotype. Variability of AGD in dairy cows (Gobikrushanth et al, 2017) and heifers (Carrelli et al, 2021) and its heritability (Gobikrushanth et al, 2019) have been described. Moreover, an inverse relationship between AGD and fertility has been reported in both dairy (Gobikrushanth et al, 2017) and beef cattle (Battista, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anogenital distance is associated with postpartum estrous activity, intensity of estrous expression, ovulation, and progesterone concentrations in lactating Holstein cows

Madureira

Burnett

Carrelli

et al. 2022

Journal of Dairy Science

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The objectives of this retrospective observational study were to determine the associations of anogenital distance (AGD) with (a) postpartum estrous activity, (b) diameter of the preovulatory follicle, (c) intensity of estrous expression, (d) postestrus ovulation, (e) corpus luteum (CL) size, and (f) concentrations of progesterone at estrus and on d 7 after estrus. Lactating Holstein cows (n = 178; 55 primiparous, 123 multiparous) were enrolled into the study during the first postpartum week. All cows were continuously monitored by a pedometer-based automated activity monitoring (AAM) system for estrus. Postpartum estrous activity was assessed using the AAM estrus alerts, in which cows with at least one true estrus alert (i.e., a relative increase in steps from each cow's baseline detected by the AAM and the presence of at least one follicle >15 mm, a CL <20 mm, or no CL detected by ultrasound) by the first 50 d in milk (DIM) were considered to have commenced estrous activity. At the estrus alert >60 DIM, ovulation was determined by ultrasound at 24 h, 48 h, and 7 d after estrus, and blood samples were collected at estrus alert and on d 7 after estrus for progesterone analysis. The AGD was measured from the center of the anus to the base of the clitoris and classified as either short-or long-AGD using 2 cut-points of 148 mm (predictive of the probability of pregnancy to first insemination; short-AGD, n = 115; long-AGD, n = 63) and 142 mm (the median AGD; short-AGD, n = 90; long-AGD, n = 88). Regardless of the cut-point used, early postpartum estrous activity by 50 DIM (67 vs. 54%), duration of estrus (11.6 vs. 9.7 h), and preovulatory follicle diameter (20 vs. 19 mm) were greater in short-AGD than in long-AGD cows. Increased peak of activity at estrus in short-AGD cows (354 vs. 258% mean relative increase) was affected by an interaction between AGD and parity in which multiparous long-AGD cows had lesser relative increase in activity than primiparous cows (217 vs. 386%, respectively). Mean progesterone concentration at estrus was lesser in short-AGD (0.47 vs. 0.61 ng/mL) than in long-AGD cows. The ovulatory response at 24 h did not differ, but at 48 h (91 vs. 78%) and on d 7 after estrus (97 vs. 84%) it was greater in short-AGD cows. Although CL diameter on d 7 after estrus did not differ, short-AGD cows had greater progesterone concentration 7 d after estrus than long-AGD cows (4.1 vs. 3.2 ng/mL, respectively). In conclusion, greater proportions of short-AGD cows commenced estrous activity by 50 DIM, had larger preovulatory follicles, exhibited greater duration of estrus, had reduced progesterone concentration at estrus, had greater ovulation rates and progesterone concentration 7 d after estrus compared with long-AGD cows, with no difference in CL size between AGD groups. Because all the differences in physiological characteristics of short-AGD cows reported herein favor improved reproductive outcomes, we infer that these are factors contributing to improved fertility reported in short-AGD cows compared with lo...

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The importance of developmental programming in the dairy industry

Meesters,

Van Eetvelde,

Beci

et al. 2024

Animal Reproduction Science

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Relationship of anogenital distance with fertility in nulliparous Holstein heifers

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Repeatability of anogenital distance measurements from birth to maturity and at different physiological states in female Holstein cattle

Repeatability of anogenital distance measurements from birth to maturity and at different physiological states in female Holstein cattle

Anogenital distance is associated with postpartum estrous activity, intensity of estrous expression, ovulation, and progesterone concentrations in lactating Holstein cows

The importance of developmental programming in the dairy industry

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