Uterine inflammation affects the reproductive performance of dairy cows: A review

Abstract

Incidence of post-partum uterine disease is an important concern in dairy cattle, because it affects its reproduction. Therefore, the objective of this review of literature was to generate a multifactorial overview about uterine diseases, and the reproductive performance of dairy cows, from a zootechnical approach. Dairy cows face multiple challenges around parturition. Immune suppression around calving, exposition to trauma and uterine bacterial contamination, metabolic diseases, lactation, and changes in management make dairy cows susceptible to uterine diseases. Most cows are able to eliminate uterine infection after calving, however, some cows keep uterine disease. Uterine disease may show clinical signs, but also silent signs that affect fertility as well. Poor reproductive performance is not caused by those signs by themselves, but due to alterations in ovarian and uterine function. Also, the problem of this silent signs is that farmers become aware of the disease when it has already caused negative effects on the reproductive performance. Sometimes, uterine disease is still present at the moment of the first service after calving. Uterine disease make it harder for cows to get pregnant because it affects the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, being another cause for infertility, increasing the cull rate and decreasing incomes from the dairy industry. ResumenEl ganado lechero, entre otros desafíos, presenta enfermedades uterinas post parto que afectan su reproducción, por tanto, el objetivo de esta revisión de literatura fue generar una visión desde múltiples aristas acerca de las enfermedades uterinas y el desempeño reproductivo de la vaca lechera desde un enfoque zootécnico. La vaca lechera enfrenta múltiples retos en el momento del parto. Inmunosupresión alrededor del parto, exposición a trauma y contaminación uterina, enfermedades metabólicas, lactancia y cambios en el manejo, hacen a la vaca lechera un animal vulnerable de sufrir algún tipo de enfermedad uterina. La mayoría de las vacas pueden eliminar la infección Literature review Agron. Mesoam. 29(2):449-468, mayo-agosto, 2018

The deleterious effect of postpartum pyometra on the reproductive indices, the metabolic profile, and oxidant/antioxidant parameters of dairy cows

“…Diversity in these metabolites was not evident when measured in the transition period 3 weeks before and after calving in the case of endometritis. Energy balance before calving was similar, yet NEB in the first 3 weeks postpartum was more serious in the case of endometritis than that in the healthy ones [9]. Furthermore, nutritional status is not only critical to immune cell function but also it is also considered a long-run factor affecting reproductive achievement of cows, given the strong connection among resumption of ovarian activity during the postpartum period and energy balance.…”

Treatment of Postpartum Metritis in Dairy Cattle

“…Postpartum (pp.) contamination of the uterus with bacteria regarded as a causative criterion for infection (2,3) , It causes a great economical loss to the farmers especially in multiparous dairy cattle as a results of decrease of reproductive performance due to delayed uterine involution, increase calving interval, open days, number of service per conception (4)(5)(6) . There are many factors makes the cows more susceptible to metritis.…”

“…There are many factors makes the cows more susceptible to metritis. These factors includes; Immune response, genetic factors, management factors, infections factors and nutritional and metabolic factors (5) There are several method to treat postpartum metritis reported by several authors (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) . Postpartum metritis is commonly treated with hormones or antibiotics or antiseptics alone or in combination (4,10,12) .…”

A Study on the Transcriptional Profile of NOS2 and IFN-γ Genes in River Buffalo with Endometritis

“…Endometritis can be diagnosed using a variety of procedures, including uterine biopsies and swabs, however these approaches might irritate and distort cells [7]. Because immune genes influence inflammatory responses during infection, differences in the expression patterns of immunity-related genes play a significant role in the early diagnosis of subclinical endometritis [8]. The variation in inflammatory genes expression profiles had a significant impact on the early diagnosis of subclinical endometritis in buffalo.…”