title: Studies on Neospora caninum DNA detection in the oocytes and embryos collected from infected cows.
abstract: Neosporosis is a major cause of abortion in cattle over the world. One of the methods of preventing vertical transmission within the herd is to avoid breeding replacement heifers from infected dams. Another procedure suggested and recommended by the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS) is embryo transfer (ET) from infected dams into uninfected recipients. Oocytes and embryos taken from seropositive cows were examined for the presence of Neospora caninum DNA. A modified PCR protocol using Np21 and Np6 primers was applied to detect parasite DNA in the samples. The expected 328 bp product was not obtained in oocytes and/or embryos collected from seropositive dams. The results confirmed that transfer of the embryos from seropositive donors into seronegative recipients is an appropriate method to eliminate vertical transmission of neosporosis in a herd. The present study demonstrated that oocytes and embryos are not exposed to N. caninum in the uterine cavity of seropositive dams.
authors.affiliation: Witold Stefanski Institute of Parasitology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda Street 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland. moskwa@twarda.pan.pl
authors.forename: Bozena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moskwa
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goździk
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bień
authors.forename: Władysław
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cabaj
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000635:transmission*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000662:veterinary*; D018688:Neospora / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009865:Oocytes / Q000469:parasitology*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan