title: Plasma concentrations of pregnancy-associated glycoproteins measured using anti-bovine PAG-2 antibodies on day 120 of gestation predict abortion in dairy cows naturally infected with Neospora caninum.
abstract: The present study sought to determine: (i) the effects of Neospora caninum infection and twin pregnancy on plasma pregnancy-associated glycoprotein-2 (PAG-2) concentrations throughout pregnancy and (ii) whether plasma PAG-2 concentrations could predict abortion in N. caninum-infected cows. The study was performed on a commercial Holstein-Friesian dairy herd in northeastern Spain and the final data included those recorded in 53 non-aborting and 19 aborting animals. Blood samples were collected immediately before pregnancy diagnosis (on Days 40, 90, 120, 150, 180 and 210 post-insemination) in non-aborting cows or until the time of abortion detection in aborting cows. General lineal models (GLM) repeated measures anova revealed the different behaviour of PAG-1 and PAG-2, and significant effects of Neospora seropositivity, cool season and twin pregnancy on plasma PAG-2 concentrations throughout gestation (between-subject effects). In addition, based on the odds ratios, the likelihood of abortion increased in Neospora-seropositive cows (by a factor of 7.0) compared to seronegative animals and decreased in cows with a high plasma PAG-2 concentration (>4.5 ng/ml) on Day 120 of pregnancy (by a factor of 0.24), compared to the remaining cows. In conclusion, there is a relationship between plasma PAG-2 concentrations and the risk of abortion in Neospora-infected dairy cows. Thus, plasma PAG concentrations measured using anti-boPAG-2 antiserum on Day 120 of gestation could serve as an indicator of the abortion risk in N. caninum infected animals; values <4.5 ng/ml indicating a high risk of abortion in chronically infected animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Production, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain. irinag@prodan.udl.cat
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: García-Ispierto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Almería
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: de Sousa
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Beckers
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: López-Gatius
mesh_terms: D000034:Abortion, Veterinary / Q000097:blood* / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000662:veterinary*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D018688:Neospora / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000097:blood / Q000662:veterinary*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000662:veterinary; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D015415:Biomarkers; D007106:Immune Sera; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; C095584:pregnancy-associated glycoprotein 2