Molecular aspects of bovine cystic ovarian disease pathogenesis

Abstract

Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is one of the main causes of reproductive failure in cattle and causes severe economic loss to the dairy farm industry because it increases both days open in the post partum period and replacement rates due to infertility. This disease is the consequence of the failure of a mature follicle to ovulate at the time of ovulation in the estrous cycle. This review examines the evidence for the role of altered steroid and gonadotropin signaling systems and the proliferation/apoptosis balance in the ovary with cystic structures. This evidence suggests that changes in the expression of ovarian molecular components associated with these cellular mechanisms could play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of COD. The evidence also shows that gonadotropin receptor expression in bovine cystic follicles is altered, which suggests that changes in the signaling system of gonadotropins could play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of conditions characterized by altered ovulation, such as COD. Ovaries from animals with COD exhibit a disrupted steroid receptor pattern with modifications in the expression of coregulatory proteins. These changes in the pathways of endocrine action would trigger the changes in proliferation and apoptosis underlying the aberrant persistence of follicular cysts. Free Spanish abstract: A Spanish translation of this abstract is freely available at

Incidence of ovarian follicular cysts and their effect on reproductive performance in dairy cows: A case study in Mexico

“…For this reason, it can be speculated that the ovulatory follicles developed in cows with a history of pathologic puerperium have a reduced capacity to trigger the preovulatory LH surge. Although the etiology of OFC has not been established, the absence or insufficiency of the preovulatory LH surge is considered to be a crucial factor in the development of this condition (Peter 2004, Ortega et al 2015.…”

BMP2, 4 and 6 and BMPR1B are altered from early stages of bovine cystic ovarian disease development

“…Ovarian activity was synchronized starting with the procedure commonly referred to as G6G (Pursley et al 1995, Bello 2006, Díaz et al 2015 with some modification, and only cows with one or more corpora lutea identified by transrectal ovarian ultrasonography were selected. The synchronization protocol consisted of two doses of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α; 150 µg D+cloprostenol; Enzaprost DC, Biogénesis-Bagó, Garín, Buenos Aires, Argentina) administered 12 h apart on day 0 to induce luteolysis (Hatler et al 2008), followed by a dose of GNRH (20 µg buserelin acetate; Gonaxal, Biogénesis-Bagó, Argentina) 2 days later to stimulate ovulation of the preovulatory follicles present.…”

“…Control cows did not receive any additional hormonal treatment. On day 16 after estrus synchronization, cows of groups P5, P10 and P15 were treated with an intravaginal progesterone device (750 mg micronized progesterone; Pro-Ciclar P4-Zoovet, Santa Fe, Argentina) inserted 1 day after the first PGF2α injection of Ovsynch to obtain subluteal concentrations of progesterone (1-2 ng/mL), as described by Bigelow & Fortune (1998) and Díaz et al (2015). On an average, ovulation occurred around 4 days after administration of the first PGF2α dose (range 101-106 h).…”

“…In group P15, a third intravaginal progesterone-releasing device was introduced on day 11 of persistence, 1 day before removal of the second one ( Fig. 1) (for more details, see Díaz et al 2015).…”

The local regulation of folliculogenesis by members of the transforming growth factor superfamily and its relevance for advanced breeding programmes

“…Development of ovarian cysts is known to be related to alterations in apoptosis and steroid production in the ovarian follicle (Ortega et al, 2015).…”