Abstract
Uterine infections in dairy cows are common after calving, reduce fertility and cause substantial economic losses. Conventional diagnosis (based on clinical signs) and treatment can be challenging. Serum microRNA (miRNA) profiles serve as non-invasive biomarkers in several pathological conditions including inflammatory diseases. The objective was to identify differentially expressed serum miRNAs in cows with metritis and normal uterus (four cows per group), integrate miRNAs to their target genes, and categorize target genes for biological processes involved in bacterial infection and inflammatory responses. Out of 84 bovine-specific, prioritized miRNAs analyzed, 30 were differentially expressed between metritis and normal cows (p ≤ 0.05, fold regulation ≥2 magnitudes). Bta-miR-15b, bta-miR-17-3p, bta-miR-16b, bta-miR-148a, bta-miR-26b, bta-miR-101 and bta-miR-29b were highly up-regulated whereas bta-miR-148b, bta-miR-199a-3p, bta-miR-122, bta-miR-200b and bta-miR-10a were highly down-regulated in cows with metritis compared to cows with normal uterus. Highly scored target genes of up-regulated and down-regulated miRNAs were categorized for various biological processes, including biological regulation, cellular process, developmental process, metabolic process, localization, multicellular organismal process, response to stimulus, immune system process, cellular components organization, apoptotic process, biological adhesion, developmental process, and locomotion that are critical to combat bacterial infections and provoke inflammatory responses.
Highlights
Uterine diseases are prevalent in dairy cows, cause poor reproductive performance, reduced milk yield, and substantial economic losses[1,2,3]
The objective of this study was to identify differentially expressed serum miRNAs in cows with metritis or a normal uterus, integrate miRNAs to their target genes, and categorize target genes for biological processes involved in bacterial infection and inflammatory responses
Lipopolysaccharide complex associated with gram-negative pathogens (e.g., Escherichia coli) in cows with metritis may have contributed to up-regulation of bta-miR-15b in the current study
Summary
Uterine diseases are prevalent in dairy cows, cause poor reproductive performance, reduced milk yield, and substantial economic losses[1,2,3]. Several studies have considered genetic components of uterine inflammation in dairy cattle[11,12,13], few investigations have elucidated epigenetic changes such as altered expression of regulatory RNAs and their subsequent integration with coding genes that participate in bovine metritis[14,15]. Potential regulatory role of miRNAs in development and progression of bovine subclinical endometritis has been investigated by studying expression of miRNAs in uterine endometrial samples[28,29]. The objective of this study was to identify differentially expressed serum miRNAs in cows with metritis or a normal uterus (four cows in each group), integrate miRNAs to their target genes, and categorize target genes for biological processes involved in bacterial infection and inflammatory responses
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