Reproduction Abstracts

In livestock ruminant species including sheep and cattle, high fertilisation rates shown around 80%, do not necessarily equate to successful pregnancy. Deficient uterine function is therefore a major contributory factor to pregnancy failure resulting in embryonic mortality. In humans undergoing IVF treatment for subfertility, approximately only 25% of embryo transfers will successfully implant. To gain a better understanding of the natural implantation environment, in vitr...

Evidence suggests that excessive non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) production during postpartum negative energy balance (NEB) increases the risk of uterine infection. The aims of our study were to investigate associations between circulating NEFAs and uterine gene expression in postpartum dairy cows with NEB using microarray and bioinformatics techniques. Mild NEB (n=6) and severe NEB (n=6) in 12 cows were produced using different milking and...

Introduction: Infection with non-cytopathic BVDV (ncpBVDV) is associated with uterine disease and infertility in dairy cows although the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. This project investigated the influence of ncpBVDV on innate immunity of the bovine endometrium.Materials and methods: Primary bovine endometrial cells from each of six cows were divided into four groups (Control; LPS; BVDV; BVDV LPS). Cells were infected with ncpBVDV for 4 d...

Early pregnancy loss (EPL) in the mare is defined as loss of pregnancy between initial detection and day 65 of gestation. It occurs in 7–10% of pregnancies and yet little is known about the underlying pathologies. A lack of suitable conceptus material has limited investigation into the role of chromosomal defects in EPL. The objective of this study was to develop a method to isolate and culture placental cells isolated from failed pregnancies to enable further genetic cha...