Pre-calving intravaginal administration of lactic acid bacteria reduces metritis prevalence and regulates blood neutrophil gene expression after calving in dairy cattle

Metritis affects up to 40% of dairy cows and it is usually treated with antibiotics. In spite of their advantages, there is an increased concern about antibiotic resistance leading to the research of alternative methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a combination of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the prevalence of metritis and modulation of endometrial and neutrophil inflammatory markers in dairy cows. One hundred and thirty-five cows were enrolled 3 week before calving and randomly assigned to three treatments. Treatment groups were: (1) two intravaginal doses of LAB/wk during 3 week pre-calving (vaginal, n = 45); (2) an intra-uterine dose, once 1 d after calving (uterine, n = 44); and (3) no intervention (CTRL, n = 45). Metritis was defined as body temperature > 39.5◦C and purulent vaginal discharge (> 50% pus), and diagnosed 6 d after calving. Blood samples were taken at d −14, −10, −7, −4, +1, +3, +6, and +14 relative to calving for non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) analysis. At d −10, +1, +3, and +6 neutrophils were isolated from blood for gene expression analysis by RT-qPCR. Endometrium biopsies were taken from 30 cows, 15 from CTRL and 15 from the uterine group at d +1, +3, and +6 after calving for pro-inflammatory markers analysis by NanoString®. Vaginal treatment reduced metritis prevalence (6/45) up to 58% compared with CTRL group (14/45), but there was no difference between the uterine and CTRL group. Uterine and vaginal treatments reduced blood neutrophil gene expression. Expression of pro-inflammatory markers in the endometrium did not differ between uterine and CTRL cows. Metritic cows expressed more C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8) and interleukin 1 beta (IL1B) at d 3 than healthy cows, whereas healthy cows expressed more CXCL8 at d 1 relative to calving in the endometrium. This study shows a promising potential of LAB probiotics as a preventive treatment against metritis in dairy cows.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pilot Study to Evaluate the Association Between the Length of the Luteal Phase and Estrous Activity Detected by Automated Activity Monitoring in Dairy Cows

The ability of automated activity monitoring (AAM) systems to detect estrus is influenced by multiple variables. The luteal phase (LP) preceding estrus has been shown to be important for hormones release, and behavior during estrus in ruminants, but its impact on activity as measured by AAM systems has not been studied. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of the length of the preceding LP on the intensity and duration of estrus as measured by AAM, and on the expression of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) in the endometrium. A total of 60 cows between 46 and 53 days in milk were assigned to either a normal or a short length LP. Length of the LP was insured by the use of hormonal synchronization programs. Cows in both treatments were matched on parity, milk production, body condition score (BCS), and lameness score (assessed at enrolment). Expression of ERα receptors in the endometrium were evaluated by nuclear staining by immunohistochemistry of biopsies. Estrus was defined as the day on which the AAM system detected estrus. Cows that were not synchronized by the protocol or that were not detected in estrus by the AAM systems were excluded, which left 21 and 11 cows for analyses in the normal and short length LP, respectively. Peak activity index of estrus, duration of estrus, and expression of ERα were outcomes for multivariable linear regression models. Cows with short length LP tended to have lower peak activity at estrus, but there was no significant effect of treatment when BCS was accounted for. Cows with BCS ≤ 2.5 had less intense and shorter estrus than cows with BCS ≥ 2.75. There was no association between the length of the LP and the expression of ERα in the endometrium

Pre-calving Intravaginal Administration of Lactic Acid Bacteria Reduces Metritis Prevalence and Regulates Blood Neutrophil Gene Expression After Calving in Dairy Cattle

Metritis affects up to 40% of dairy cows and it is usually treated with antibiotics. In spite of their advantages, there is an increased concern about antibiotic resistance leading to the research of alternative methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a combination of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the prevalence of metritis and modulation of endometrial and neutrophil inflammatory markers in dairy cows. One hundred and thirty-five cows were enrolled 3 week before calving and randomly assigned to three treatments. Treatment groups were: (1) two intravaginal doses of LAB/wk during 3 week pre-calving (vaginal, n = 45); (2) an intra-uterine dose, once 1 d after calving (uterine, n = 44); and (3) no intervention (CTRL, n = 45). Metritis was defined as body temperature > 39.5°C and purulent vaginal discharge (> 50% pus), and diagnosed 6 d after calving. Blood samples were taken at d −14, −10, −7, −4, +1, +3, +6, and +14 relative to calving for non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) analysis. At d −10, +1, +3, and +6 neutrophils were isolated from blood for gene expression analysis by RT-qPCR. Endometrium biopsies were taken from 30 cows, 15 from CTRL and 15 from the uterine group at d +1, +3, and +6 after calving for pro-inflammatory markers analysis by NanoString®. Vaginal treatment reduced metritis prevalence (6/45) up to 58% compared with CTRL group (14/45), but there was no difference between the uterine and CTRL group. Uterine and vaginal treatments reduced blood neutrophil gene expression. Expression of pro-inflammatory markers in the endometrium did not differ between uterine and CTRL cows. Metritic cows expressed more C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8) and interleukin 1 beta (IL1B) at d 3 than healthy cows, whereas healthy cows expressed more CXCL8 at d 1 relative to calving in the endometrium. This study shows a promising potential of LAB probiotics as a preventive treatment against metritis in dairy cows

Table_1_Pre-calving Intravaginal Administration of Lactic Acid Bacteria Reduces Metritis Prevalence and Regulates Blood Neutrophil Gene Expression After Calving in Dairy Cattle.DOCX

<p>Metritis affects up to 40% of dairy cows and it is usually treated with antibiotics. In spite of their advantages, there is an increased concern about antibiotic resistance leading to the research of alternative methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a combination of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the prevalence of metritis and modulation of endometrial and neutrophil inflammatory markers in dairy cows. One hundred and thirty-five cows were enrolled 3 week before calving and randomly assigned to three treatments. Treatment groups were: (1) two intravaginal doses of LAB/wk during 3 week pre-calving (vaginal, n = 45); (2) an intra-uterine dose, once 1 d after calving (uterine, n = 44); and (3) no intervention (CTRL, n = 45). Metritis was defined as body temperature > 39.5°C and purulent vaginal discharge (> 50% pus), and diagnosed 6 d after calving. Blood samples were taken at d −14, −10, −7, −4, +1, +3, +6, and +14 relative to calving for non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) analysis. At d −10, +1, +3, and +6 neutrophils were isolated from blood for gene expression analysis by RT-qPCR. Endometrium biopsies were taken from 30 cows, 15 from CTRL and 15 from the uterine group at d +1, +3, and +6 after calving for pro-inflammatory markers analysis by NanoString®. Vaginal treatment reduced metritis prevalence (6/45) up to 58% compared with CTRL group (14/45), but there was no difference between the uterine and CTRL group. Uterine and vaginal treatments reduced blood neutrophil gene expression. Expression of pro-inflammatory markers in the endometrium did not differ between uterine and CTRL cows. Metritic cows expressed more C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8) and interleukin 1 beta (IL1B) at d 3 than healthy cows, whereas healthy cows expressed more CXCL8 at d 1 relative to calving in the endometrium. This study shows a promising potential of LAB probiotics as a preventive treatment against metritis in dairy cows.</p