Clinical endometritis in an Argentinean herd of dairy cows: Risk factors and reproductive efficiency

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to assess the clinical and metabolic risk factors for clinical endometritis, the likelihood for having a normal vaginal discharge during postpartum, and the effects of endometritis on milk yield, reproductive efficiency, and metabolic status in Holstein cows. The study was conducted in a commercial dairy herd (Cordoba, Argentina) where 303 Holstein cows were enrolled. Cows were body condition scored (1 to 5) and tail bled on -14, 7, 21, 31, 41, and 50 d relative to parturition. Cows having a vaginal discharge with presence of pus between 21 and 41 d postpartum (dpp) were diagnosed as having clinical endometritis. Plasma blood samples were analyzed for nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), and blood urea nitrogen using commercial kits and insulin-like growth factor 1, insulin, and leptin by RIA. Data were analyzed with PROC MIXED, PROC GENMOD, and PROC PHREG of SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Abnormal calving and puerperal metritis increased the risk for endometritis [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.21 for both]. High prepartum NEFA and high postpartum BHBA increased the risk for endometritis (AOR=1.003 and 1.001, respectively), whereas high prepartum blood urea nitrogen reduced it (AOR=0.853). Cut-offs of 456.6 μM NEFA and 402.5 μM BHBA had sensitivities of 0.69 and 0.58, and specificities of 0.88 and 0.86, respectively. The likelihood for having normal vaginal discharge increased with time (∼1% × dpp) and with normal calving. Cows with endometritis had higher milk yield than normal herdmates (27.8±0.9 vs. 25.7±0.4 kg/d), lower risk for pregnancy by 100 dpp (AOR=0.10), higher nonpregnancy risk by 200 dpp (AOR=2.87), and higher risk for culling than normal cows (AOR=2.28). Cows with endometritis had a lower hazard rate (0.44) for pregnancy and had approximately 70 d longer calving-to-conception intervals. Finally, endometritis had no effect on metabolic hormones. In conclusion, the risk for clinical endometritis increases with abnormal calving and puerperal metritis, as prepartum NEFA and postpartum BHBA concentrations increase. Prepartum NEFA and postpartum BHBA could be useful for the prediction of endometritis. Last, clinical endometritis has detrimental effects on reproductive efficiency, as affected cows take longer to get pregnant and are at higher risk for culling.

Dynamics of bacteriologic and cytologic changes in the uterus of postpartum dairy cows

“…The highest proportion of PMN was detectable in winter and the lowest in summer. The impact of seasonal effects on endometritis is unclear [52,55]. Whether weather or management associated factors were responsible for these results still needs to be elucidated [52,55,56].…”

Risk factors of clinical and subclinical endometritis in cattle: a review

“…Within a retrospective study of 102,060 dairy cows, Bruun et al (17) confirmed that dystocia was a risk factor that significantly increased the overall incidence of metritis and clinical endometritis during the first month after calving with an OR of 3.0 (95% CI: 2.3-4.0, P < 0.001) ( Table 2). Giuliodori et al (30) confirmed the correlation between abnormal calving and clinical endometritis with an adjusted OR of 2.2. Furthermore, dystocia indirectly increases the opportunity for the development of endometritis by increasing the probability of metritis with an OR of 4.3 (95% CI: 3.7-4.9, P < 0.001) (13).…”

“…Persistent uterine infection and clinical endometritis were less frequent in primiparous than multiparous cows since uterine involution was more rapid in the primiparous group (11). However, Giuliodori et al (30) and Thibier and Steffan (31) excluded an effect of the cow's age and parity number on the prevalence of clinical endometritis. Carneiro et al (16) reported that parity did not affect the incidence of subclinical endometritis.…”

“…Moreover, high postpartum NEFA levels increased the risk of clinical endometritis with an adjusted OR of 1.0 (P < 0.05) (30). The elevation of circulating plasma NEFA induces hepatic steatosis (fatty liver) and impairs polymorphonuclear function, notably phagocytosis (46).…”

Identification of Escherichia coli and Trueperella pyogenes isolated from the uterus of dairy cows using routine bacteriological testing and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

“…Risk factors for these uterine diseases mainly are problems around parturition and subsequent negative energy balance [4–6]. The most prevalent uterine pathogens isolated from cows with MET, CE, and in some cases SE are Escherichia coli and Trueperella pyogenes [7].…”