Murawski Maciej, Schwarz Tomasz, Jamieson Mark, Bartlewski Pawel Mieczyslaw
Agricultural University of Cracow Department of Animal Biotechnology Kraków Poland Agricultural University of Cracow, Department of Animal Biotechnology, Kraków, Poland.
Agricultural University of Cracow Department of Swine and Small Animal Breeding Kraków Poland Agricultural University of Cracow, Department of Swine and Small Animal Breeding, Kraków, Poland.
Anim Reprod. 2019 Nov 18;16(4):853-858. doi: 10.21451/1984-3143-AR2019-0025.
The main goal of this preliminary study was to determine and compare ultrasonographic characteristics of the mammary gland in two genotypes of ewes varying in milk productivity at 2, 3 and 4 weeks after lambing. Ultrasonographic images of the udder were obtained using the 5.0- and 7.5-MHz transducers, in axial and coronal planes, in four low milk-yielding Polish Mountain sheep and six high milk-yielding Olkuska ewes. All ultrasonograms were subjected to computerized image analyses using commercially available image analytical software (Image ProPlus ; Media Cybernetics Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) to determine numerical pixel values (NPVs) and heterogeneity (pixel standard deviation-PSD) of the mammary gland parenchyma. During the 28-day period post-partum, the Olkuska sheep exceeded (P < 0.05) Polish Mountain ewes in milk productivity (31.6 ± 2.7 l and 25.0 ± 4.2 l, respectively; means ± SEMs) as estimated by the mean weight gains of suckling lambs. In animals examined with the 5.0-MHz transducer, mean NPVs of the mammary gland parenchyma in Olkuska ewes and mean PSD in both genotypes of ewes were lower (P < 0.05) before than after milking. In addition, PSD recorded both before and after milking were lower (P < 0.05) in the Polish Mountain compared with Olkuska breed. Mean PSD values for the mammary gland were less (P < 0.05) before than after milking in Polish Mountain ewes and they were greater (P < 0.05) in Olkuska compared with Polish Mountain ewes examined with the 7.5-MHz probe after milking. It can be concluded that milk quantity, histomorphology of the udder and ultrasound transducer frequency may all impinge on the echotextural characteristics of the mammary parenchyma in different breeds of sheep. Our observations warrant future studies of correlations between milk composition, mammary gland histophysiology and ultrasonographic image attributes of the mammary gland in ruminants.
这项初步研究的主要目标是确定并比较两种产奶量不同的基因型母羊在产羔后2周、3周和4周时乳腺的超声特征。使用5.0兆赫和7.5兆赫的换能器，在轴向和冠状平面上，对4只低产奶量的波兰山地绵羊和6只高产奶量的奥尔库斯卡母羊的乳房进行超声成像。所有超声图像均使用市售图像分析软件（Image ProPlus ；美国加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥的Media Cybernetics公司）进行计算机图像分析，以确定乳腺实质的数值像素值（NPV）和异质性（像素标准差-PSD）。在产后28天期间，根据哺乳羔羊的平均体重增加量估计，奥尔库斯卡绵羊的产奶量超过（P < 0.05）波兰山地母羊（分别为31.6 ± 2.7升和25.0 ± 4.2升；均值±标准误）。在用5.0兆赫换能器检查的动物中，奥尔库斯卡母羊乳腺实质的平均NPV以及两种基因型母羊的平均PSD在挤奶前均低于挤奶后（P < 0.05）。此外，波兰山地母羊挤奶前后记录的PSD均低于奥尔库斯卡品种（P < 0.05）。波兰山地母羊乳腺的平均PSD值在挤奶前低于挤奶后（P < 0.05），在用7.5兆赫探头检查的奥尔库斯卡母羊中，挤奶后该值高于波兰山地母羊（P < 0.05）。可以得出结论，产奶量、乳房组织形态学和超声换能器频率可能都会影响不同品种绵羊乳腺实质的回声纹理特征。我们的观察结果值得未来对反刍动物的乳汁成分、乳腺组织生理学和乳腺超声图像属性之间的相关性进行研究。
