McRae Gail R, Coutinho da Silva Marco A, Runcan Erin E, Stephens Julie A, Premanandan Christopher
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Center for Biostatistics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Reprod Domest Anim. 2025 Apr;60(4):e70055. doi: 10.1111/rda.70055.
Endometrial biopsies have been used historically as a diagnostic tool as part of breeding management in some domestic species. In the mare, the findings in an endometrial biopsy can relate to the ability of that mare to carry a pregnancy to term. The value of the endometrial biopsy in the canine has not been fully established. In this study, the presence of inflammation, fibrosis and endometrial cysts was characterised in full-thickness uterine biopsies from subfertile bitches in late diestrus/early anestrus and compared to the same findings in fertile bitches. The hypothesis was that subfertile bitches would have more inflammation, fibrosis and endometrial cysts. Full-thickness uterine biopsies were taken at the hysterotomy site at the time of C-section for control cases (n = 103), and previous submissions were collected from The Ohio State Reproductive Service as subfertile samples (n = 263). The cases were blinded, randomised and evaluated. Chi-squared or Fisher's exact tests were used to compare categorical variables between control and experimental samples. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare ages between the groups. Overall, inflammation was observed more frequently in the subfertile group in comparison to the control group. Lymphoplasmacytic inflammation was observed more frequently in the subfertile group when compared to the fertile group. The incidence of periglandular fibrosis and endometrial cysts was not significantly different between the two groups. These results indicate that microscopic evaluation of canine uterine biopsies may be more suited to detecting inflammatory changes in the endometrium and isolated endometrial cysts, as well as isolated fibrotic lesions, which may be less impactful on fertility compared to chronic inflammation.
子宫内膜活检在历史上一直被用作某些家养动物繁殖管理中的一种诊断工具。在母马中，子宫内膜活检的结果可能与该母马足月妊娠的能力有关。子宫内膜活检在犬类中的价值尚未完全确立。在本研究中，对处于发情后期/发情前期的不育母犬进行全层子宫活检，以确定炎症、纤维化和子宫内膜囊肿的存在情况，并与可育母犬的相同结果进行比较。假设是不育母犬会有更多的炎症、纤维化和子宫内膜囊肿。对于对照病例（n = 103），在剖腹产时于子宫切开部位采集全层子宫活检样本，不育样本（n = 263）则从俄亥俄州立大学生殖服务中心收集之前提交的样本。对病例进行盲法、随机分组并评估。使用卡方检验或费舍尔精确检验来比较对照样本和实验样本之间的分类变量。使用威尔科克森秩和检验来比较两组之间的年龄。总体而言，与对照组相比，不育组中炎症的观察频率更高。与可育组相比，不育组中淋巴细胞浆细胞性炎症的观察频率更高。两组之间腺周纤维化和子宫内膜囊肿的发生率无显著差异。这些结果表明，对犬类子宫活检进行显微镜评估可能更适合检测子宫内膜的炎症变化、孤立的子宫内膜囊肿以及孤立的纤维化病变，与慢性炎症相比，这些病变对生育能力的影响可能较小。
