Prevalence of inflamatory processes in the reproductive tracts of crossbred dairy cows / Prevalência de processos inflamatórios no sistema reprodutivo de vacas leiteiras mestiças

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the prevalence of cervicitis and endometritis and their interrelations in crossbred dairy cows that were more than 60 days in milk (DIM), and the efficiency of the cytology technique (cytobrush) and histology as diagnostic methods for these diseases. The reproductive tracts (n=149) derived from cows were collected from a slaughterhouse and grossly evaluated to determine uterine involution and the phase of the estrous cycle. Subsequently, cervical and uterine cytological evaluations were done to characterize the inflammatory response as cervicitis (with a neutrophilic count greater than 5%) or endometritis (with more than 6% neutrophils). Additionally, randomly obtained samples from the cervix and uterus were collected for histological evaluation. Cytological evaluation revealed that the frequency of cervicitis was 6% (9/149), and endometritis was diagnosed in 8.1% (12/149) of the samples; both inflammatory reactions were diagnosed 2.1% (3/149) in three of these. Histological evaluation revealed that of the cows diagnosed with cervicitis by cytology, 66.6% (6/9) had no inflammatory reaction in the cervical mucosa, and 33.3% (3/9) had mild inflammation in this region. Histological evaluation of the uterine horn revealed that of the 12 cows diagnosed with endometritis by cytology, 50% (6/12) of these had a histological diagnosis of mild and moderate inflammatory responses, 8.3% (1/12) of these demonstrated a severe inflammatory response, while no inflammatory reaction was identified in 41.7% (5/12) of the endometrial biopsies evaluated. In conclusion, the endometrial and cervical inflammatory response diagnosed by the cytobrush technique persisted in 12.1% of the cows. Comparatively, the frequency of the inflammatory responses at the cervix and uterus was reduced by histological analysis relative to cytological evaluation with the cytobrush technique.

RESUMO

O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a prevalência de cervicite e endometrite citológicas e suas inter-relações em vacas leiteiras mestiças com mais de 60 dias pós-parto (DPP), bem como avaliar as técnicas de citologia (cytobrush) e histologia como métodos diagnósticos para estas doenças. Foram utilizados 149 tratos reprodutivos de vacas com mais de 60 DPP de abatedouro e avaliados macroscopicamente para determinar a involução uterina e a fase do ciclo estral. Posteriormente, realizou-se citologia cervical e uterina para o diagnóstico de inflamação utilizando como ponto de corte, contagem de polimorfonucleares (PMN) superior a 5% e 6%, respectivamente, para cervicite e endometrite citológica. Também foram coletadas amostras de cérvix e útero para histologia. Do total de vacas, identificaram-se 6% (9/149) com cervicite e 8,1% (12/149) com endometrite citológica, sendo três destes animais (2,1%) com ambas as inflamações. Histologicamente, dos animais com cervicite citológica, 66,6% (6/9) não apresentaram infiltrado inflamatório na mucosa cervical e 33,3% (3/9) apresentaram inflamação leve. A histologia uterina mostrou que de 12 vacas com endometrite citológica, 50% (6/12) apresentaram infiltrados inflamatórios leves a moderados, 8,3% (1/12) grave e 41,7% (5/12) não tinham Inflamação endometrial. Concluiu-se que a inflamação endometrial e cervical, por meio da técnica de citologia, persistiu em 12,1% das vacas com mais de 60 DPP. Quando se utiliza a histologia como método de diagnóstico, a detecção de inflamação cervical e uterina é inferior ao detectado pela técnica de citologia por meio do esfregaço endometrial (cytobrush).