Effect of preovulatory follicle on fertility in Graded murrah buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

Abstract

An investigation was taken up to study the relationship of preovulatory follicle size at the time of first postpartum AI and CL biometry with conception using transrectal ultrasonography in 70 parous Graded Murrah buffaloes maintained under rural conditions. POF sizes were measured ultrasonographically and grouped in to small preovulatory follicle (SPF), medium preovulatory follicle (MPF) and large preovulatory follicle (LPF). Serum progesterone concentration at the time of AI and pregnancy status was negatively correlated indicating that when progesterone level declined to < 0.3 ng/ml (basal level) at the time of AI, the chances of the animal becoming pregnant was increased. The size of the POF was positively correlated to the size of the CL on day 10 in pregnant buffaloes. The overall POF diameter at the time of estrum was 12.31 ± 0.29 mm (Range 9 to 16 mm) in Graded Murrah buffaloes and 50 % of the buffaloes had POF size > 12 -14 mm. They conceived only if the POF diameter was more than 9 mm at the time of AI however there was no significant correlation between the POF size at the time of AI and conception. Thus, it was concluded that physiological maturity rather than the diameter of the follicle influenced the fertility in Graded Murrah buffaloes under field conditions.

Effect of Pre- ovulatory Follicle Size on Pregnancy Rate in Murrah Buffaloes

“…When POF size was grouped based on the parity, the POF size was found to be nonsignificantly smaller (12.97 ± 0.27 mm) in heifers than parous (13.25 ± 0.22mm) buffaloes in present study which is in agreement with Raj et al, (2018) who also reported larger follicle size in pluriparous buffaloes (15.3 mm) than the primiparous (15.07 mm). Tenhagen et al, (2003) sighted that follicle size is affected by parity, with primiparous cattle producing smaller follicles than pluriparous ones.…”

“…It has been documented that with increasing POF size, conception rate decreases in cows (Lynch et al, 2010, Vasconcelos et al, 1999. On the contrary, studies have reported that larger POF contributed to higher pregnancy rates (Raj et al, 2018 andPandey et al, 2011).…”

“…In global scenario, buffalo population is increasing continuously, with 109.85 million buffalo population (20 th Livestock census, GOI, 2019) in India alone. Rightly termed as "The Black Gold" (Acharya and Bhat, 1988), they have played a pivotal role in achieving red and white revolution (Raj et al, 2018), but because of their poor breeding capabilities, they are not credited their due importance (Agarwal and Tomar, 2003), the major limitation being lower pregnancy rate after AI (Thirunavukkarasu and Kathiravan, 2009). One of the important aspects of successful AI is the correct time of insemination in synchrony with time of ovulation.…”

“…Pre-ovulatory follicle, Murrah, Oestrus Accepted: 24 July 2020 Available Online: 10 August 2020 Article Info (Pandey et al, 2011, Raj et al, 2018. In cattle heifers, greater follicle size yielded better pregnancy rates.…”

Changes of follicular fluid composition during estrous cycle: The effects on oocyte maturation and embryo development in vitro

“…Some components, which are known to influence oocyte maturation and/or embryo development are affected by follicular growth and development and/or by level of nutrition, whereas others are still need further investigation (Fig 1). Therefore, the trials to improve culture conditions (Mohammed 2006;Mohammed 2008;Lee et al, 2018) for in vitro embryo production (IVP) are still required as quality of oocytes (Mohammed 2017;Mohammed and Al-Hozab, 2018;Maylinda et al, 2018;Raj et al, 2018).…”