Abstract
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.
Highlights
Acute metritis is an inflammation of the uterus due to bacterial infection occurring during the first 21 days after calving [with greater prevalence during the first 7 days in milk (DIM)] [1]
Vaginal treatment lowered the prevalence of metritis by 58% compared with the CTRL group, resulting in a prevalence of 13.3%; whereas the CTRL group had a prevalence of metritis of 31.1%
The uterine treatment reduced 2.26-fold SELL, 2.08-fold neutrophil cytosolic factor 1 (NCF1), 1.62-fold SOD1, and 1.69-fold TNFaR gene expression compared with the CTRL, whereas vaginal treatment reduced SELL and TNFaR gene expression (1.72-fold, 1.22-fold, respectively), and had a tendency to reduce NCF1 (P = 0.056)
Summary
Acute metritis is an inflammation of the uterus due to bacterial infection occurring during the first 21 days after calving [with greater prevalence during the first 7 days in milk (DIM)] [1]. Damage to the uterine tissue during parturition leads to inflammation that likely contributes to the systemic condition [3]. This inflammation in the uterus comes from the need for substantial tissue repair as part of post-partum involution characterized by the recruiting of immune cells [4]. Traditional antimicrobial treatments against metritis are not very effective as only 67–77% of treated cows decrease fever after 5–10 days of treatment and there is not always resolution of the fetid odor [1]. The recommendations from the World Health Organization [6] to reduce antibiotic treatments leads to investigate alternative therapies
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