Imaging and diagnostic accuracy of outpatient and inpatient hysteroscopy

Aim. To compare the results of visualisation and diagnostic accuracy during outpatient and inpatient hysteroscopy in women with endometrial disease.Materials and Methods. We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with uterine diseases who underwent outpatient hysteroscopy at Kemerovo City Clinical Hospital №4 (n = 300) or inpatient hysteroscopy within the hospitals (n = 300) in Kemerovo from 2018 to 2020. Confirmation of endometrial disease was carried out by manual vacuum aspiration.Results. Indications, imaging, and diagnostic accuracy did not differ for most endometrial diseases in outpatient and inpatient hysteroscopy, yet inpatient hysteroscopy was the option of choice in women with infertility (p = 0.035). Diagnostic accuracy of outpatient and inpatient hysteroscopy was highly concordant, albeit outpatient hysteroscopy more often revealed adenomyosis and uterine malformation and less often identified endometrial polyps.Conclusion. Outpatient and inpatient hysteroscopy are equally efficient, although outpatient hysteroscopy has its benefits in detecting adenomyosis and uterine malformation and be less informative in diagnosing endometrial polyps.

Healthy Cattle Microbiome and Dysbiosis in Diseased Phenotypes

: Cattle farming is an ancient practice, with roots in the early Neolithic era that has retained its status in the food industry today, with global beef market revenue amounting to $385.7B, as of 2018. Hence, cattle maintenance is naturally essential to cater to nutritional requirements of modern civilization. This extensive review aims to provide a holistic overview of cattle microbiome, analysing the native microbial composition within respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive tract, and skin. The dysbiosis associated with various diseases such as bovine respiratory disease, bovine digital dermatitis, mastitis, Johne's disease, uterine diseases (metritis and endometritis) and metabolic disorders (ruminal acidosis and ketosis) has been discussed. Moreover, various non-antibiotic microbial therapies including phage therapy, prebiotics and probiotics have been examined as potential means to reduce disease-associated dysbiosis. In general, this review highlights the importance of the microbiome in maintenance of health in cattle and its potential in alleviating bovine diseases, with an aim to enhance cattle health and production.

Biochemical criteria for the development mechanisms of various reproduction disorders in dairy cows

Ventsova I, Safonov V. 2021. Biochemical criteria for the development mechanisms of various reproduction disorders in dairy cows. Biodiversitas 22: 4997-5002. The article presents the evaluation of peroxide, antioxidant, and hormonal conditions of high-producing red-and-white dairy cows in the physiological and pathological course of pregnancy and the postpartum period. The blood concentration of malonic dialdehyde, stable nitric oxide metabolites, S-nitrosothiols, vitamins E and C, carotin, gonadal, corticosteroid, and thyroid hormones, as well as activity of GPx, GR, SOD, catalase, and ceruloplasmin, were estimated to define major disorder-provoking factors. Analysis of the data shows that ketosis-gestosis syndrome during pregnancy, postpartum metritis, and gonadal dysfunction occur mainly because of oxidative stress in the context of unbalanced peroxide responses and antioxidant protection. Levels of malonic dialdehyde compared to healthy animals increased by 42.3%, 75%, 56.6%, respectively, as also enzyme activities of GR by 26%, 68.1%, 30.1% and catalase by 17.3%, 45.1%, and 23.9%, correspondingly. The endocrine status indicators in the animals with ketosis-gestosis syndrome changed as follows: progesterone levels were 29.5% lower in cows, 17?-estradiol and cortisol were 20.8% and 14.7% lower, respectively. In animals with inflammatory uterine diseases and depressing reproductive glands, progesterone level was 2 and 3 times lower than in healthy animals, the content of cortisol was 17.6% and 25.1% lower, and testosterone decreased by 21.4% and 75.1%, respectively.

PAEONIA EMODI: A THREATENED IMPORTANT MEDICINAL PLANT OF HIGHER HIMALAYAN REGION

Himalaya is well known for its rich biodiversity with respect to medicinal and aromatic plants and Paeonia emodi Wall. ex Royle is one of them locally known as Chandra (family Paeoniaceae). In India, it is distributed in North–West Himalaya from Kashmir to Garhwal-Kumaun regions of Uttarakhand with an altitudinal range of 1800 to 2800 m asl. The whole plant of P. emodi is highly effective for uterine diseases, blood purifier, colic, bilious, backbone ache, headache, dizziness, vomiting, dropsy, epilepsy and hysteria while the seeds are purgative. A present phytosociological study particularly in Garhwal Himalaya, reveals that only few pockets of P. emodi are higher dense in Triyuginarayan and Shyalmi areas (3.80 and 2.72 individual/m2 respectively) while remaining are lower dense under diverse climatic conditions due to invasion by several biotic and abiotic factors. Using available information based on field survey, it assumed that the causes of its degradation are largely overexploitation of immature twigs before flower formation and seed shedding. To conserve the targeted species for future prosperity, Government needs to take immediate and concrete initiatives or imposed the ban on illegal collection or removal of the plant from its natural populations and emphasize the promotion of conservation.

Comparison of Surgical Outcomes between Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery for Hysterectomy and Conventional Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy

Objective: To compare surgical outcomes between transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery for hysterectomy (vNOTESH) and total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) for the benign uterine diseases. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of electronic medical records of women that underwent vNOTESH between January 2019 and June 2020 (n=33) and TLH between June 2017 and August 2019 (n=33) in Bangkok Hospital Udon, Udonthani Province, Thailand was carried out. Measurement outcomes included operative time, estimated blood loss, intra- and post- operative complications, and post-operative pain assessment. Results: One woman of the TLH group was excluded from the study because of severe adhesion. The mean age and BMI were not significantly different between the groups. There was no intra-operative complication in both groups. A median operative time was significantly shorter in the vNOTESH at 73 minutes (30 to 260 minutes than in the TLH at 140 minutes (75 to 296minutes), p<0.0001]. Post-operative pain scores were significantly less in the vNOTESH than in the TLH. In addition, the number of women who needed the added analgesics were significantly less in the vNOTESH than the TLH groups at 6.1% versus 46.9% (p=0.001), respectively. However, the amount of blood loss and post-operative complication were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: The present retrospective study demonstrated that the vNOTES is a feasible and safe procedure for hysterectomy in experienced hands and well-selected cases. This new technique is superior not only in taking less operative time and in achieving less postoperative pain, but also from the cosmetic aspect. Hence, it may be an alternative method for hysterectomy of the benign uterine diseases in the future. Keywords: Hysterectomy; Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES); Surgical outcomes; Total laparoscopic hysterectomy

Lameness in Early Lactation is Associated with Lower Productive and Reproductive Performance in a Herd of Supplemented Grazing Dairy Cows

The main aim of this study was to assess the associations between the timing of lameness clinical case occurrence in lactation with productive and reproductive performances in grazing Holstein cows. A cohort study was carried out on a dataset with records from a commercial dairy herd (Buenos Aires, Argentina) for cows that calved and were dried off from January 2010 through June 2017. The first recorded event of lameness per lactation was considered for the study. Criteria for lactation inclusion included not having uterine diseases, mastitis, or anovulatory cysts during the studied risk period (i.e., up to 200 DIM). Therefore, a total of 7156 out of 20,086 lactations were included in the statistical analysis. The association between lameness case occurrence in lactation (cows not lame (LG0) vs. lame cows between parturition and first service (LG1) vs. lame cows between first service and first pregnancy (LG2)) with productive (i.e., accumulated milk yield to 150 DIM (MILK150) and 300 DIM (MILK305)) and reproductive performances (hazard of insemination and pregnancy) was analyzed with linear regression models and proportional hazard regression models, respectively. Lame cows produced 161 and 183 kg less MILK150 and MILK305 than non-lame herd mates, respectively. Moreover, LG1 cows produced 216 kg less MILK150 and 200 kg less MILK305 than LG0 cows, and LG2 cows also produced 58 kg less MILK150 and 158 kg less MILK305 than LG0 cows. The LG1 cows had a lower hazard of service than LG0 cows (HR = 0.43, 95%CI = 0.39–0.47). Furthermore, LG1 cows had a lower hazard of pregnancy than LG0 cows (HR = 0.52, 95%CI = 0.46–0.59) and took longer to get pregnant than LG0 cows (median [95%CI], 139 [132–144] vs. 101 [99–103]). Moreover, LG2 cows had a much lower hazard of pregnancy than LG0 cows (HR = 0.08, 95%CI = 0.05–0.12) and much longer calving to first pregnancy interval than LG0 cows (188 [183–196] vs. 101 [99–103]). In conclusion, cows that become lame in early lactation produce less milk and have lower hazards of insemination and pregnancy than herd mates that are healthy or become lame later in lactation. In addition, cows that become lame immediately after the voluntarily waiting period have the poorest reproductive performance (i.e., they have the lowest hazard of pregnancy and the longest calving to pregnancy interval).

Administration of GnRH at Onset of Estrus, Determined by Automatic Activity Monitoring, to Improve Dairy Cow Fertility during the Summer and Autumn

We examined gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) administration at onset of estrus (OE), determined by automatic activity monitoring (AAM), to improve fertility of dairy cows during the summer and autumn. The study was performed on two dairy farms in Israel. The OE was determined by AAM recorded every 2 h, and a single im dose of GnRH analogue was administered shortly after OE. Pregnancy was determined by transrectal palpation, 40 to 45 d after artificial insemination (AI). Conception risk was analyzed by the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS. Brief visual observation of behavioral estrus indicated that about three-quarters of the events (n = 40) of visually detected OE occurred within 6 h of AAM-detected OE. Accordingly, the GnRH analogue was administered within 5 h of AAM-detected OE, to overlap with the expected endogenous preovulatory LH surge. Overall, pregnancy per AI (P/AI) was monitored over the entire experimental period (summer and autumn) in 233 first, second or third AI (116 and 117 AI for treated and control groups, respectively). Least square means of P/AI for treated (45.8%) and control (39.4%) groups did not differ, but group-by-season interaction tended to differ (p = 0.07), indicating no effect of treatment in the summer and a marked effect of GnRH treatment (n = 58 AI) compared to controls (n = 59 AI) on P/AI in the autumn (56.6% vs. 28.5%, p < 0.03). During the autumn, GnRH-treated mature cows (second or more lactations), and postpartum cows exhibiting metabolic and uterine diseases, tended to have much larger P/AI than their control counterparts (p = 0.07–0.08). No effect of treatment was recorded in the autumn in first parity cows or in uninfected, healthy cows. In conclusion, administration of GnRH within 5 h of AAM-determined OE improved conception risk in cows during the autumn, particularly in those exhibiting uterine or metabolic diseases postpartum and in mature cows. Incorporation of the proposed GnRH treatment shortly after AAM-detected OE into a synchronization program is suggested, to improve fertility of positively responding subpopulations of cows.

Productive and Reproductive Aspects in Dairy Cows Raised with and Without Access to Pasture in Southern Brazil

Since productive performance in dairy cows is directly linked to the manner in which cows are raised, the breeding system can have a direct influence on the parameters of a farm. Unlike the main European and North American countries, in southern Brazil the use of confinement systems with access to pasture is widespread. Grazing cows are believed to be less stressed from the metabolic point of view. This study was conducted on nine commercial dairy farms located in the Serra Gaúcha, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from September 2016 to November 2017. A total of 393 Holstein dairy cows were included immediately after birth. The dairy farms had an average of 45 lactating cows and were milked twice a day with an average milk production in 305 days of 9,500 kg / cow for the confinement system with access to pasture and 10,700 kg / cow for the confined system. The confinement system with access to pasture (CAP) was composed of five properties and was characterized by access to rotating pasture, while the confinement system without access to pasture (CNP) was composed of four properties. The study diagnosed uterine diseases, metabolic diseases and their correlations, and assessed the conception rate in the first service of the herds. Animals with access to pasture had generally lower production rates than animals reared in confinement, which suggests that the model with access to pasture used in the extreme south of the country can result in deleterious effects on animal production.