Department of Animal Reproduction, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland.
Theriogenology. 2013 Oct 15;80(7):766-72. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2013.07.001. Epub 2013 Aug 9.
The aims of this study were (1) to measure the secretion of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), leukotriene B4 (LTB4), and leukotriene C4 (LTC4) by endometrial cells collected by a cytobrush from healthy cows and cows with subclinical and clinical endometritis in the fourth week postpartum, and (2) to evaluate the relationship between the mediators' levels of secretion and the number of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) in the uterine smears of cows with subclinical endometritis. The study included cows without any signs of clinical endometritis (n = 63) and cows with clinical endometritis as a positive control (ENDOM, n = 12). Two different threshold ratios (>5% and >18% of PMNs) were used to categorize the cows without clinical signs as with or without cytologic endometritis (CE). Considering the first or second threshold, the animals with CE were included in group CE POS I or CE POS II, whereas the healthy cows were assigned to group CE NEG I or CE NEG II, respectively. The prevalence of CE was 68.25% (42/63) and 57.14% (36/63) according to the first and second thresholds, respectively. The highest level of secretion of all of the measured mediators occurred in the ENDOM group and differed significantly (P < 0.05) from the CE POS and CE NEG groups, regardless of the threshold. PGF2α secretion in the CE POS II group (1629 pg/mL) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) when compared with the CE NEG II group (2797 pg/mL), whereas there was no significant difference between the CE POS I and CE NEG I groups. PGE2 secretion differed between both groups with CE; higher concentrations were measured in the CE POS II group (6.68 ng/mL) when compared with the CE POS I (2.4 ng/mL) and CE NEG II (2.37 ng/mL) groups (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in the LTB4 and LTC4 secretion between the CE POS and CE NEG groups, considering both thresholds. It seems that CE does not fully mimic the inflammatory cascade associated with clinical signs. The response in the subclinical cases was limited to enhanced production of PGE2, which was particularly well-pronounced in cows with high numbers of PMNs (>18%) in the endometrial scrapings.
本研究的目的是（1）测量在产后第四周时，通过细胞刷刷取的健康牛和患有亚临床及临床子宫内膜炎牛的子宫内膜细胞分泌的前列腺素 F2α（PGF2α）、前列腺素 E2（PGE2）、白三烯 B4（LTB4）和白三烯 C4（LTC4）的量，以及（2）评估亚临床子宫内膜炎牛的子宫拭子中，分泌的介质水平与多形核白细胞（PMN）数量之间的关系。该研究包括没有任何临床子宫内膜炎迹象的牛（n = 63）和作为阳性对照的临床子宫内膜炎牛（ENDOM，n = 12）。使用两个不同的阈值比（PMN ＞ 5%和PMN ＞ 18%）将没有临床症状的牛分为存在或不存在细胞学子宫内膜炎（CE）。根据第一个或第二个阈值，将存在 CE 的动物归入 CE POS I 或 CE POS II 组，而健康牛分别归入 CE NEG I 或 CE NEG II 组。根据第一个和第二个阈值，CE 的患病率分别为 68.25%（42/63）和 57.14%（36/63）。所有测量介质的分泌水平均以 ENDOM 组最高，且与 CE POS 和 CE NEG 组相比差异显著（P < 0.05），而与阈值无关。CE POS II 组（1629 pg/mL）的 PGF2α 分泌水平显著低于 CE NEG II 组（2797 pg/mL）（P < 0.05），而 CE POS I 组和 CE NEG I 组之间无显著差异。在有 CE 的两组之间，PGE2 分泌存在差异；CE POS II 组（6.68 ng/mL）的浓度显著高于 CE POS I 组（2.4 ng/mL）和 CE NEG II 组（2.37 ng/mL）（P < 0.05）。考虑到两个阈值，CE POS 和 CE NEG 两组之间的 LTB4 和 LTC4 分泌无显著差异。这表明 CE 不能完全模拟与临床症状相关的炎症级联反应。亚临床病例的反应仅限于 PGE2 的产量增加，而在子宫内膜刮片中PMN 数量较高（＞18%）的牛中，这种反应尤为明显。
