title: Vaginal and cervical dilatation intrapartum is associated with eosinophilic infiltration in the cow but not in the sheep.
abstract: During parturition maximal dilatation of the vagina and cervix is necessary for expulsion of the neonate. The aim of the present study was to characterize the cell infiltration of the vagina and cervix that is associated with this event in cows and sheep. For this purpose, vaginal and cervical tissue were removed from four pluriparous cows and four sheep immediately after delivery of the neonate by biopsy under visual control (group 1), and the eosinophilic granulocytes were stained selectively. Four cows that were in interoestrus were used for control (group 2). In a third group of cows (n=10), blood samples were taken to determine the concentration of eosinophilic granulocytes from the fifth day antepartum up to the sixth day postpartum (group 3). A high degree of infiltration with eosinophilic granulocytes was detected in the bovine vagina and cervix intrapartum but not during interoestrus and in the ovine tissue intrapartum (p <0.001). In the bovine tissue, the cell density was higher in the vagina than in the cervix (p <0.05). The intrapartal tissue infiltration was associated with a short-term blood eosinopenia. In conclusion, this investigation demonstrates eosinophilic infiltration in the bovine vagina and cervix intrapartum, which differs from the situation in sheep. We suggest that this difference can be explained by the fact that cows deliver at high oestrogen and low progesterone values, but sheep show relatively high intrapartal P4 levels, which might suppress tissue infiltration with eosinophilic granulocytes.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Andrology of Large and Small Animals, Justus Leibig University, Giessen, Giessen, Germany. axel.wehrent@vetmed.uni-giessen.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wehrend
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gümbel
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leiser
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Failing
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bostedt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000097:blood; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000166:cytology*; D004804:Eosinophils; D004967:Estrogens / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D007747:Labor Stage, First; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D011247:Pregnancy; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood; D012756:Sheep / Q000097:blood; D013045:Species Specificity; D014621:Vagina / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D011374:Progesterone