Pregnancy rates and serum 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-PGF2α concentrations in recipient Nelore heifers treated with meloxicam after the transfer of in vitro-produced embryos.

This study aimed to determine if the administration of meloxicam, a cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitor, to Nelore (Bos taurus indicus) heifers, in which embryo transfer is more difficult and requires a greater manipulation of the reproductive tract than in Bos taurus females, would improve the pregnancy rates by decreasing serum PGFM concentrations. After estrous synchronization, multiparous recipient heifers (n = 85) were selected as embryo recipients and were randomly allocated into two groups: CON (n = 42), the control group, in which animals received 10 mL of saline intramuscularly (the same volume of meloxicam), and MEL (n = 43), the group in which animals were treated with meloxicam. According to the degree of passing the catheter, recipients from both groups were classified as grade I (easy; <80 seconds) and grade II (difficult; >80 seconds).