Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Sep:57 Suppl 4:21-32.
doi: 10.1111/rda.14176. Epub 2022 Jun 20.

Maladaptation to the transition period and consequences on fertility of dairy cows

Osvaldo Bogado Pascottini  1   2 , Jo L M R Leroy  2 , Geert Opsomer  1
Affiliations
Review

Maladaptation to the transition period and consequences on fertility of dairy cows

Osvaldo Bogado Pascottini et al. Reprod Domest Anim. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

After parturition, dairy cows undergo a plethora of metabolic, inflammatory, and immunologic changes to adapt to the onset of lactation. These changes are mainly due to the homeorhetic shift to support milk production when nutrient demand exceeds dietary intake, resulting in a state of negative energy balance. Negative energy balance in postpartum dairy cows is characterized by upregulated adipose tissue modelling, insulin resistance, and systemic inflammation. However, half of the postpartum cows fail to adapt to these changes and develop one or more types of clinical and subclinical disease within 5 weeks after calving, and this is escorted by impaired reproductive performance in the same lactation. Maladaptation to the transition period exerts molecular and structural changes in the follicular and reproductive tract fluids, the microenvironment in which oocyte maturation, fertilization, and embryo development occur. Although the negative effects of transition diseases on fertility are well-known, the involved pathways are only partially understood. This review reconstructs the mechanism of maladaptation to lactation in the transition period, explores their key (patho)physiological effects on reproductive organs, and briefly describes potential carryover effects on fertility in the same lactation.

Keywords: follicle; hypocalcaemia; metabolic stress; oocyte; reproduction; systemic inflammation; uterus.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Aardema, H., van Tol, H. T. A., Wubbolts, R. W., Brouwers, J., Gadella, B. M., & Roelen, B. A. J. (2017). Stearoyl-CoA desaturase activity in bovine cumulus cells protects the oocyte against saturated fatty acid stress. Biology of Reproduction, 96, 982-992.
    1. Aardema, H., Vos, P. L. A. M., Lolicato, F., Roelen, B. A. J., Knijn, H. M., Vaandrager, A. B., Helms, J. B., & Gadella, B. M. (2011). Oleic acid prevents detrimental effects of saturated fatty acids on bovine oocyte developmental competence. Biology of Reproduction, 85, 62-69.
    1. Bao, Y., Ledderose, C., Seier, T., Graf, A. F., Brix, B., Chong, E., & Junger, W. G. (2014). Mitochondria regulate neutrophil activation by generating ATP for autocrine purinergic signaling. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 289(39), 26794-26803.
    1. Bilodeau-Goeseels, S., & Panich, P. (2002). Effects of quality on development and transcriptional activity in early bovine embryos. Animal Reproduction Science, 71, 143-155.
    1. Bromfield, J. J., Santos, J. E. P., Block, J., Williams, R. S., & Sheldon, I. M. (2015). Physiology and endocrinology symposium: Uterine infection: Linking infection and innate immunity with infertility in the high-producing dairy cow. Journal of Animal Science, 93, 2021-2033.