Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Miles City, Montana » Livestock and Range Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #324065
Title: Predicting embryo presence and viability

Author
item POHLER, K - University Of Tennessee
item GREEN, J - University Of Missouri
item Geary, Thomas
item PERES, RF - Sao Paulo State University (UNESP)
item PEREIRA, MH - Sao Paulo State University (UNESP)
item VASCONCELOS, JL - Sao Paulo State University (UNESP)
item SMITH, M - University Of Missouri

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2015
Publication Date: 11/1/2015
Citation: Pohler, K.G., Green, J.A., Geary, T.W., Peres, R.G., Pereira, M.C., Vasconcelos, J.M., Smith, M.F. 2015. Predicting embryo presence and viability. IN: Regulation of Implantation and Establishment of Pregnancy in Mammals. Editors: R. D. Geisert and F. W. Bazer. Chapter 13:243-270.

Interpretive Summary: Pregnancy establishment, followed by birth of live offspring, is essential to all mammals. The processes required for pregnancy success and birth are complex. Several coordinated events must occur within the pregnant female to maintain a pregnancy. The first step is ovulation of an egg capable of being fertilized. Once fertilization has occurred, early embryo growth begins. In order to provide proper care for the pregnant mother, it is necessary to know the mother is pregnant. This is also true in farm animals. The simple presence of an embryo during early pregnancy does not guarantee the birth of a live baby. Many women lose pregnancies before they even realize they are pregnant. Pregnancy loss is also common in farm animals. Identifying which pregnancies will result in a live birth is difficult. This review will focus on ways to determine if a pregnancy will be successful.

Technical Abstract: Pregnancy establishment, followed by birth of live offspring, is essential to all mammals. The biological processes leading up to pregnancy establishment, maintenance, and birth are complex and dependent on the coordinated timing of a series of events at the molecular, cellular, and physiological level. The ability to ovulate a competent oocyte, which is capable of undergoing fertilization, is only the initial step in achieving a successful pregnancy. Once fertilization has occurred and early embryonic development is initiated, early pregnancy detection is critical to provide proper prenatal care (humans) or appropriate management (domestic livestock). However, the simple presence of an embryo, early in gestation, does not guarantee the birth of a live offspring. Pregnancy loss (embryonic mortality, spontaneous abortions, etc.) has been well documented in all mammals, especially in humans and domestic livestock species, and is a major cause of reproductive loss. It has been estimated that only about 25–30 % of all fertilized oocytes in humans result in birth of a live offspring; however, identifying the embryos that will not survive to parturition has not been an easy task. Therefore, investigators have focused the identification of products in maternal circulation that permit the detection of an embryo and assessment of its well-being. This review will focus on the advances in predicting embryonic presence and viability, in vivo.