Context Antral follicle count (AFC) is reflective of ovarian reserve and linked to reproductive performance in mammalian females. We previously demonstrated earlier upregulation of endometrial oxytocin receptor transcription in heifers with low AFC, indicating an earlier onset of luteolysis. Aims We aimed to support the earlier onset of luteolysis in non-pregnant heifers with a low number of antral ovarian follicles (Open Low AFC) and hypothesized a reduced abundance of luteinizing hormone/choriogonadotropin receptor (LH/CG-R ) and increased abundance of thrombospondin-1 (THBS1 ) in luteal tissue of those heifers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntral Follicle Count (AFC) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations are reflective for ovarian reserve and have been associated with improved reproductive performance in cattle. Key events for regulation of uterine receptivity are orchestrated by progesterone. As progesterone concentrations are greater in animals with high than low AFC, we tested the hypothesis, if the resulting improved uterine environment will lead to improved conceptus elongation and endometrial response to interferon tau.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPreweaning piglet growth is tied to milk quality and consumption. To determine the relationship of milk traits from parity 1-4 dams and piglet growth, early- and mid-lactation (day 2 and day 16) milk samples were collected from 48 litters and analyzed for protein, fat, somatic cell count (SCC), lactose, other solids (solids excluding protein and fat), total solids, and milk urea nitrogen (MUN). There were no interactions of parity by day therefore only main effects were tested.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: The exact mechanisms regulating the initiation of porcine conceptus elongation are not known due to the complexity of the uterine environment.
Aims: To identify contributing factors for initiation of conceptus elongation in vitro , this study evaluated differential metabolite abundance within media following culture of blastocysts within unmodified alginate (ALG) or Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)-modified alginate hydrogel culture systems.
Methods: Blastocysts were harvested from pregnant gilts, encapsulated within ALG or RGD or as non-encapsulated control blastocysts (CONT), and cultured.
Assisted reproductive technologies are used to propagate desirable genetics in a shortened timeframe. Selected females undergo ovarian stimulation with the use of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to increase embryo recovery for subsequent transfer programs. The FSH receptor (FSHR) c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSignificant increases in litter size within commercial swine production over the past decades have led to increases in preweaning piglet mortality due to increase within-litter birthweight variation, typically due to mortality of the smallest littermate piglets. Therefore, identifying mechanisms to reduce variation in placental development and subsequent fetal growth are critical to normalizing birthweight variation and improving piglet survivability in high-producing commercial pigs. A major contributing factor to induction of within-litter variation occurs during the peri-implantation period as the pig blastocyst elongates from spherical to filamentous morphology in a short period of time and rapidly begins superficial implantation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Chronic low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability, but treatments for LBP are limited. Degeneration of the intervertebral disc due to loss of neuroinhibitory sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sGAGs) allows nerves from dorsal root ganglia to grow into the core of the disc. Treatment with a decellularized tissue hydrogel that contains sGAGs may inhibit nerve growth and prevent disc-associated LBP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreased antral follicles are associated with greater fertility and a uterine environment that is more supportive of early embryonic development in beef heifers. Glucose is a primary energy source for embryos, and glucose concentrations are elevated in uterine luminal fluid (ULF) of pregnant heifers. We hypothesized that ULF glucose concentrations and endometrial transcript abundance for glucose transporters on d16 after insemination would be greater in heifers with increased numbers of antral follicles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to identify transcriptome differences between distinct or transitional stage spherical, ovoid, and tubular porcine blastocysts throughout the initiation of elongation. We performed a global transcriptome analysis of differential gene expression using RNA-Seq with high temporal resolution between spherical, ovoid, and tubular stage blastocysts at specific sequential stages of development from litters containing conceptus populations of distinct or transitional blastocysts. After RNA-Seq analysis, significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and pathways were identified between distinct morphologies or sequential development stages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to evaluate placental development during late gestation (day 100) between Chinese Meishan (CM; n = 7) and White crossbred (WC; n = 5) gilts following intrauterine crowding induced by unilaterally hysterectomy-ovariectomy. Gross placental morphology and areolae density as well as histological morphology (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeasonal reproductive inefficiency is still observed in modern swine facilities. We previously reported global placental methylation activity was reduced from summer breedings and tended to be less from semen collected during cooler periods. The objective of the current study was to evaluate chromatin modification marks within swine placenta in relationship to breeding season, semen collection season, and semen storage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to identify metabolites within the porcine uterine milieu during the early stages of blastocyst elongation. At Days 9, 10, or 11 of gestation, reproductive tracts of White cross-bred gilts (n = 38) were collected immediately following harvest and flushed with Roswell Park Memorial Institute-1640 medium. Conceptus morphologies were assessed from each pregnancy and corresponding uterine flushings were assigned to one of five treatment groups based on these morphologies: (a) uniform spherical (n = 8); (b) heterogeneous spherical and ovoid (n = 8); (c) uniform ovoid (n = 8); (d) heterogeneous ovoid and tubular (n = 8); and (e) uniform tubular (n = 6).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBos indicus females have more surface antral follicles than Bos taurus females; however, histological studies demonstrated no difference in total number of primordial follicles between these two biological types of cattle. Primordial follicle density in the ovary was less in Nelore ovaries compared to Angus ovaries, but no studies have examined the primordial follicle density in Bos indicus cross-bred females. It, therefore, was hypothesized that primordial follicle density in the ovary would decrease as percentage Bos indicus increased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpigenetics includes the study of external factors that can influence the expression of genes by altering the accessibility of DNA through methylation. To investigate the epigenetic influence of season, sperm head shape, and semen storage on placental and fetal tissues, pregnancies were generated in the summer or winter using boar semen from either least or most sperm head shape change, collected during cool or warm seasons, and stored as cooled-extended or cryopreserved. The lowest (p < 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe number of antral follicles detectable by ultrasonography in heifers is influenced by age of the dam, because daughters of primiparous cows have fewer antral follicles than daughters of mature cows. We, therefore, hypothesized that heifers with primiparous dams would have fewer primordial follicles in their ovaries than heifers born to mature (4+ y) cows. Angus heifers (n = 464) were submitted for ultrasonographic evaluation of antral follicle number at 325, 355, and 385 d of age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential relationships between cytokine gene expression, complete blood counts (CBC) and animals that were sick or would become sick. The CBC and the transcript abundance of cytokines and their receptors expressed in leukocytes were measured from calves at two early timepoints, and again after diagnosis with bovine respiratory disease (BRD).
Results: Blood was collected from calves at pre-conditioning (n = 796) and weaning (n = 791) for CBC.
Reproductive performance of female pigs that do not receive sufficient colostrum from birth is permanently impaired. Whether lactocrine deficiency, reflected by low serum immunoglobulin immunocrit (iCrit), affects patterns of endometrial gene expression during the periattachment period of early pregnancy is unknown. Here, objectives were to determine effects of low iCrit at birth on the adult endometrial transcriptome on pregnancy day (PxD) 13.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: During late gestation the placental epithelial interface becomes highly folded, which involves changes in stromal hyaluronan. Hyaluronan is composed of glucoronate and N-acetyl-glucosamine. We hypothesized that supplementing gestating dams with glucosamine during this time would support placental folded-epithelial-bilayer development and increase litter size.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough deficiencies in porcine blastocyst elongation play a significant role in early embryonic mortality and establishment of within-litter developmental variation, the exact mechanisms of elongation are poorly understood. Secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1) is increased within the uterine milieu during early porcine pregnancy and contains an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide sequence that binds to cell surface integrins on the uterine endometrium and trophectoderm, promoting cell adhesion and migration. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the development of preimplantation porcine blastocysts encapsulated and cultured within alginate hydrogels either supplemented with SPP1 or conjugated with RGD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppropriate embryonic and fetal development significantly impact pregnancy success and, therefore, the efficiency of swine production. The pre-implantation period of porcine pregnancy is characterized by several developmental hallmarks, which are initiated by the dramatic morphological change that occurs as pig blastocysts elongate from spherical to filamentous blastocysts. Deficiencies in blastocyst elongation contribute to approximately 20% of embryonic loss, and have a direct influence on within-litter birth weight variation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFarrowing induction is a common practice among swine producers to manage timing of farrowing and the labor associated with farrowing. In this experiment, the effect of induction of labor using cloprostenol on Day 114 of gestation ( = 88) was compared to our standard farrowing protocol at USMARC (natural farrowing with induction using cloprostenol on Day 116 if needed, = 82) in gilts and sows up to fourth parity. In a subset of dams ( = 10 each treatment), colostrum was collected within 30 min of birth of the first piglet, and at 4, 8, 12, and 24 h.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious research demonstrated a favorable relationship between the number of follicles detectable in the bovine ovary by ultrasonography and fertility, and bovine females with diminished numbers of antral follicles had smaller reproductive tracts. Therefore, we hypothesized that uterine function would be compromised in beef heifers with diminished numbers of antral follilcles. Angus heifers (n=480) were submitted for ultrasonographic evaluation of antral follicle number at 325 and 355d of age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFemale pigs nursing their first litter (first-parity gilts) have increased energy requirements not only to support their piglets, but they themselves are still maturing. Non-targeted plasma metabolomics were used to investigate the differences between (1) post-farrowing and weaning (early or late lactation), (2) degree of body condition loss after lactation (extreme or minimal), and (3) interactions; to potentially identify compounds or pathways that could aide in alleviating energetic demands of lactation in gilts. Twenty first-parity gilts were selected with similar ( ≥ 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Feed intake and gain are economically important traits in beef production. The rumen wall interacts with feed, microbial populations, and fermentation products important to cattle nutrition. As such, it is likely to be a critical component in the beef steer's ability to utilize feedstuffs efficiently.
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