Vet Image Solutions, passionate about ultrasound.
USING VETERINARY ULTRASOUND TO ESTABLISH PREGNANCY IN EGYPTIAN BUFFALO COWS
Pregnancy detection is one of the most common uses for veterinary ultrasound, and in addition to being rapid and non-invasive can also be used across a whole host of different species and breeds. A paper published by Lasheen ME et al in the Tropical Animal Health and Production journal (2017 Sep 23, Epub ahead of print] ‘Predicting early pregnancy in Egyptian buffalo cows via measuring uterine and luteal blood flows, and serum and saliva progesterone’ looks at pregnancy detection in cattle and the abstract is the focus of the article this week. To see what scanners we stock suitable for use in cows/buffalo please see our website.
This research paper used ultrasound in conjunction with a number of other techniques to identify pregnancy early on in gestation, including measuring the width of the corpus luteum, assessing the regions of both luteal and uterine blood flow and examining levels of the hormone progesterone in the saliva and serum. Using a number of techniques enables the researchers to build up a clearer picture of the physiological effects of pregnancy in these animals, increasing our understanding and confidence in establishing pregnancy earlier on.
For a full breakdown of results please see the full abstract/paper as only some of the results are looked at here. Research here revealed that whilst the width of the corpus luteum got bigger up to day 35 of pregnancy, it started to reduce in non-pregnant animals from day 21 of pregnancy. This distinction was able to be identified at day 14 following ovulation, which indicates a clear difference between pregnant and non-pregnant states very early on during gestation. Furthermore levels of progesterone in saliva and serum increased in pregnant animals up to day 35 of pregnancy, although in animals that were not pregnant these levels were reduced from day 14.
Similar results were retrieved when examining the blood flow/vascularization in the luteal and uterine regions. Consequently the authors speculated that retrieving saliva samples to assess the progesterone levels alongside Doppler ultrasonography to assess blood flow would be a suitable method when trying to establish pregnancy, particularly as these techniques do not require any invasive procedures that may be distressing to the animal.