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ARS Home » Plains Area » Miles City, Montana » Livestock and Range Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #334409
Title: Markers of pregnancy: how early can we detect pregnancies in cattle using pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) and microRNAs?

Author
item REESE, S - University Of Tennessee
item PEREIRA, M - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
item VASCONCELOS, JL - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
item SMITHH, M - University Of Missouri
item GREEN, J - University Of Missouri
item Geary, Thomas
item PERES, RF - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
item PERRY, G - University Of South Dakota
item POHLER, K - University Of Tennessee

Submitted to: Animal Reproduction
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/25/2016
Publication Date: 9/1/2016
Citation: Reese, S.T., Pereira, M.C., Vasconcelos, J.M., Smithh, M.F., Green, J.A., Geary, T.W., Peres, R.G., Perry, G.A., Pohler, K.G. 2016. Markers of pregnancy: how early can we detect pregnancies in cattle using pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) and microRNAs?. Animal Reproduction. 13:200-208. 10.21451/1984-3143-AR878.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21451/1984-3143-AR878

Interpretive Summary: Pregnancy is necessary for survival of all species. It is even more important for profitability of livestock producers. Embryo survival in some species, especially dairy cows, is very low. Embryo death in cows can occur at any time. However, most embryo loss occurs before day 42 of pregnancy. Understanding the causes of embryo death is important to prevent this loss. This review focuses on some of the new technologies to identify early pregnancy in an effort to prevent these losses.

Technical Abstract: Pregnancy detection has evolved over the last few decades and the importance of early pregnancy detection is critical to minimize the amount of time a cow spends not pregnant or open. Embryonic mortality (EM) is generally considered to be the primary factor limiting pregnancy rates in cattle and occurs early (< day 28) or late (= day 28) during gestation (day 0 = estrus). In cattle, the incidence of early EM is approximately 25% (Ahmad et al., 1995, Dunne et al., 2000, Sartori et al., 2002) and the incidence of late EM is approximately 3.2 to 42.7% (Vasconcelos et al., 1997, Cartmill et al., 2001a, Cartmill et al., 2001b, Perry et al., 2005, Kill et al., 2013). Significant effort has been directed toward understanding the mechanisms resulting in early EM up to day 17; however, relatively little is known about the causes or mechanisms associated with EM after day 17. Based on work in these areas, numerous investigators are pursuing methods of early pregnancy or EM detection from day 17 of gestation forward. This review will highlight some of the technology and markers being used for early pregnancy detection and provide evidence for just how early we can detect a pregnancy in a cow. Advancements in early embryonic or pregnancy detection may lead to development of strategies to overcome early gestation losses.