Schistosomus reflexus dystocia in a crossbred dairy cow.

Key Clinical Message: Schistosomus reflexus (SR), an unusual congenital defect in calves, can be diagnosed grossly by exposed viscera and curved spine with hindquarters twisted up toward the head. SR is typically associated with dystocia and fetal deaths in cows. Hence, cattle breeding programs must be aware of these anomalies to avoid losses from abnormal, non-viable calves. Abstract: Schistosomus reflexus (SR) is a rare and fatal congenital malformation in bovines from autosomal recessive disorders. We report a typical case of SR in a non-viable calf after the cesarean section of a crossbred Friesian cow. It was characterized by the inversion of the spinal column and a pronounced ventral curvature causing the cranium to be positioned near the sacrum and tail, along with exposed thoracic and abdominal viscera, limb ankylosis, and tongue protrusion. The postoperative management of the cow, along with the outcome, is also described here.

Serum glucose, urea nitrogen, cholesterol, and total proteins in crossbred repeat breeder and normally cyclic cows.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine and compare the serum glucose, urea nitrogen, cholesterol, and total protein (TP) level in crossbred repeat breeder (RB) and normally cyclic cows to find out the relationship of these metabolic factors with repeat breeding syndrome (RBS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 592 breedable cows from 34 farms were examined from Mymensingh and Chittagong districts. Seventy cows were identified as RB cows and another 10 cows were randomly selected as normally cyclic control cows for this study. Blood sample from each cow was collected and the serum was separated. The serum samples were analyzed by auto blood analyzer. RESULTS: Cows affected with RBS had significant variation in their glucose, urea, and cholesterol levels. Serum glucose (43.00 gm/dl) level was significantly lower than in normally cyclic cows. On the other hand, serum urea and cholesterol levels were significantly higher than in normally cyclic cows. However, the TP concentrations did not differ between RB and cyclic cows. RB cows had a lower trend (6.815 mg/dl) of serum TP than in normally cyclic cows. CONCLUSION: This research might help scientists and veterinarians to understand that the high serum urea and cholesterol level along with low glucose and TP level could have some effect in the development of RBS in crossbred cows. It will potentially help veterinary practitioners and farmers to take preventive measures against RBS of crossbred cows.

In vitro maturation and fertilization of prepubertal and pubertal black Bengal goat oocytes.

Oocytes retrieval, in vitro maturation (IVM) and fertilization (IVF) efficiency are inevitable steps towards in vitro production of embryos. In the present study, these parameters were investigated in the ovaries of prepubertal (n = 31) and pubertal (n = 61) black Bengal goats obtained from a slaughterhouse. Nuclear maturation was evaluated upon aspiration and following IVM in TCM-199 (Earle's salt with L-glutamine and sodium bicarbonate) for 27 h at 39°C under 5% CO(2) in humidified air. The oocytes retrieval and efficiency (mean ± SD) per prepubertal and pubertal goats were 5.2 ± 0.6 and 6.8 ± 0.6, and 77.3 ± 0.1% and 80.5 ± 0.6%, respectively. Anaphase I - telophase I stages differed significantly (7.3 ± 0.8 vs. 2.6 ± 0.2, p < 0.05) between the two groups of goats. After IVM, the percentages of metaphase II were significantly higher (66.3 vs. 60.3, p < 0.05) in pubertal goats than in their prepubertal counterparts. The percentages of normal in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Fert-Tyrode's albumin lactate pyruvate of pubertal goat oocytes did not differ between Percoll and swim-up sperm separation methods (36.7 ± 0.9% vs. 32.7 ± 1.3%, p > 0.05). Furthermore, sperm capacitation by heparin alone or in combination with ionomycin did not lead to a significant increase in the normal fertilization rate (34.8 ± 1.7 vs. 32.2 ± 1.5%, respectively) in the oocytes of pubertal goats. In conclusion, the ovaries of pubertal black Bengal goats obtained from the slaughterhouse could be used for in vitro embryo production. However, further optimization of the IVM and IVF techniques are necessary for satisfactory in vitro embryo production.

Production of Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) cloned embryos by inter- and intra-species somatic cell nuclear transfer.

The objectives of this study were to choose an effective embryo reconstruction method and an effective post-activation agent for in vitro production of sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) embryos. Moreover, trichostatin A (TSA) treatment of whale iSCNT embryos was performed to improve the in vitro embryo development. In Experiment 1, the fusion rate was significantly higher (88.1%) in embryos reconstructed using the intracytoplasmic cell injection method (ICI) than that (48.7%) in the subzonal cell insertion (SUZI) counterpart. The rates of pseudopronucleus (PPN) formation (77.4 vs. 77.2%) and cleavage (24.5 vs. 37.0%) did not vary between ICI and SUZI. However, the PPN formation and cleavage rates were significantly (P<0.05) lower in the iSCNT embryos than in the parthenogenetic control (95.7% and 64.4%, respectively). Although 21.5% of the bovine parthenogenetic embryos developed to the blastocyst stage, no iSCNT embryo developed beyond the 6-cell stage. In Experiment 2, the cleavage rate did not vary between the TSA (50 nM)-treated and non-treated whale iSCNT embryos (30.5 vs. 32.3%, respectively). Moreover, it did not vary between the TSA-treated iSCNT and SCNT embryos (30.5 vs. 32.0%, respectively). Only one TSA non-treated iSCNT embryo developed to a compacted morula with 20 nuclei. One TSA-treated whale SCNT embryo developed to the 8-cell stage, and out of five whale iSCNT embryos, a 6-cell stage embryo was positive for whale DNA. In conclusion, bovine oocytes have the ability to support development of sei whale nuclei up to the 6-cell stage.

Effects of semen extenders and storage temperatures on characteristics of frozen-thawed Bryde's (Balaenoptera edeni) whale spermatozoa.

The present study investigated effects of three semen extenders and storage temperatures on post-thaw characteristics of Bryde's whale spermatozoa. Spermatozoa were collected from the vasa deferens of three mature Bryde's whales captured during the Japanese whale research in the north-west Pacific (May to August 2007) after death. The three semen extenders used for freezing were 1) a commercialized synthetic extender (AndroMed: AM), 2) Tris-based + 10% bovine serum albumin (BSA) and 3) Tris-based + egg yolk (EY). The sperm samples from the three whales were frozen with the three extenders, and the post-thaw spermatozoa were stored at three different temperatures (35 C; 20-25 C, room temperature; and 5 C) for 0, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 96 h. At each time-point, total and progressive motility (PM), viability (live or dead), the hypo-osmotic test, defective acrosomes and malformation were examined. Immediately after thawing, AM resulted in similar recovery rates (60.4 and 83.3%) in 2 of the 3 whales examined and had comparable post-thaw recovery rates to those obtained using the EY and BSA extenders. Immediately after thawing, the proportion of PM in EY (17.6%) was higher (P<0.05) than that in BSA (15.0%). In the hypo-osmotic test, the proportions of AM (26.0%) and BSA (25.2%) were higher (P<0.05) than that of EY (17.3 %). The three extenders had similar viabilities (36.7, 37.9 and 32.1%, respectively), but the viability of BSA was higher (P<0.05) than that of EY. The present study showed that a synthetic semen extender, AndroMed, could be used for cryopreservation of whale spermatozoa in addition to Tris-based extenders containing bovine serum albumin or egg yolk. Storage of the post-thaw Bryde's whale spermatozoa was better at 5 C than at room temperature or 35 C. The frozen-thawed Bryde's whale spermatozoa maintained their motility and viability for at least two days at room temperature and for four days at 5 C.