Abstract
Early and accurate diagnosis of pregnancy is important for effective management of an economical pig farm. Besides the currently available methods used in early diagnosis of sows, circulating nucleic acids in peripheral blood may contain some early pregnancy-specific molecular markers. For the first time, microarray analysis of peripheral blood from pregnant sows versus non-pregnant sows identified 127 up-regulated and 56 down-regulated genes at day 14 post-insemination. Gene Ontology annotation grouped the total differently expressed genes into 3 significantly enriched terms, cell surface receptor linked signal transduction, G-protein coupled receptor protein signaling pathway and regulation of vesicle-mediated transport. Signaling pathway analysis revealed the only one significantly changed pathway was arachidonic acid metabolism. Of the differently expressed genes, nine (including LPAR3, RXFP4, GALP, CBR1, CBR2, GPX6, USP18, LHB and NR5A1) were found to exert function related to early pregnancy processes. This study provides a clue that differentially abundant RNAs in maternal peripheral blood can help to identify the molecular markers of early pregnancy in pigs.
Highlights
Successful implantation in mammalian relies on an intricate discourse between the blastocyst and the maternal uterus [1]
We successfully identified 183 genes that were significantly (P,0.05) differentially expressed in the maternal peripheral blood between pregnant and non-pregnant sows (Table S1 and S2)
Of the three significantly enriched GO terms (Table 2), the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling pathway plays an essential role in signal transmission and perception of and response to the environment [23], and may be involved in pregnancy recognition in humans and animals
Summary
Successful implantation in mammalian relies on an intricate discourse between the blastocyst and the maternal uterus [1]. The reciprocal and primary dialogue essential for the implantation process involves gonadal steroids and other biologic molecules, which broadly include growth factors, adhesion molecules, chemokines and cytokines [2]. The cellular events that occurred in the endometrium throughout the various stages of implantation in swine have been explored and described [3, 4]. Embryo implantation is the first and most important stage of pregnancy; in swine this occurs at Days 13–14 of gestation [5]. Early and accurate pregnancy diagnosis is essential in domestic animal (such as swine and bovine) management. The diagnosis of pregnancy has been sought since long by farmers, which mainly includes visual, clinical and laboratory methods [6]. Heretofore, the techniques used for the pregnancy detection in sows are mostly based on physiological or behavioral changes that normally occur following conception, with having their advantages and limits, respectively [7]
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