1 Introduction, Congenital and Acquired Defects of Ovary and Oviduct

Transcript

Dear Veterinarian and my Dear students.

My topic is Congenital and acquired defects of the reproductive tract causing infertility in bovines. So before going to the subject just, I would like to introduce myself, I am doctor T. Sarath and working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinics, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai, and TANUVAS.

As you all know that the Infertility is a major problem in the field and every veterinarian is facing Infertility problems in cattle. So, this is one of the major causes which limits the profit of farmers in the field. So as far as causes are concerned, there are so many causes for infertility problems in bovines like Repeat breeding syndrome and Nutritional deficiencies and Anoestrous, so on. So that the Congenital and acquired defects of the reproductive tract causing infertility is a major one.

Introduction:

Congenital anomalies are mostly due to:

Hereditary defects, which may be due to single gene effects,

Certain genes adversely affect both cows and bulls whereas others are sex-limited in their effect.

Some of the Congenital anomalies include Ovarian agenesis,

Ovarian hypoplasia,

White heifer diseases,

Freemartin

Congenital lack of endometrial glands,

Uterus Didelphis,

Uterus unicornis,

Double cervix,

Persistence of Gartner’s ducts

So, these all are Congenital anomalies, and

As far as Acquired lesions of reproductive tracts are concerned, these are all some of the acquired lesions, especially Ovaro Bursal adhesions, Ovarian tumour, Endometritis, Metritis, and Pyometra, Cervicitis, Tumour of the vagina, Cystic Ovarian Degeneration (COD) Perineal laceration, and Rectal fistula.

So, in a nutshell, these are all the Congenital and acquired lesions that will cause infertility in bovines. So, in the coming classes, we will discuss one by one. As far as this topic is concerned, I have divided the lessons into 5.

So, in the 1st Lesson: We are going to discuss

Congenital and acquired defects of the Ovary and Oviduct: In that, the Ovarian agenesis first one, so the condition of complete failure of development of gonads or lack of one or both gonads are otherwise called as Ovarian agenesis,

Ovarian agenesis means the ovaries, not at all present, probably it may be absent, so if at all there, it may be a functionless, very very small, or pea size ovary that cannot be able to produce ovum as well as the hormones.

This is probably an inherited autosomal dominant gene and these gonadless heifers or the animals appeared normal until breeding age. So, until breeding age, it is normal, it’s not showing any symptoms. But if you see the clinically there won’t be any presence of estrum behaviour, as well as the udder also not showing any proper development and The genital tract of these heifers is also looking like juvenile and undeveloped. So, this is about Agenesis. and

The next one is Ovarian Hypoplasia:

Ovarian hypoplasia is a little more common than Ovarian agenesis, In these Ovaries, the Oocytes and follicles are virtually absent. It is also due to a single recessive autosomal gene with incomplete penetration. So, the affected ovaries may be partially or totally hypoplastic, which means it is not fully grown at all. Depending upon the severity of hypoplasia and whether the condition is unilateral or bilateral accordingly, infertility or sterility will result. In bilateral cases, the affected heifer is anestrous, so in bilateral hypoplasia, because the ovary is almost hypoplasia, it is not able to produce a sufficient amount of estradiol and further no other ovarian steroids, so that the animal is not able to show the estrous behavior. So, in cows, left-sided ovaries are most commonly affected with hypoplastic ovaries, so the incident is more on the left side, the reason we still learn is we don’t know, and Diagnosis and only repeated rectal examination are necessary.

And in this image, you can see the right-side ovary is completely developed, I mean oval and round in shape, and if we see the left side, there is a hypoplastic ovary and it looks like a band of tissue and it’s like an elongated in nature. So, in this image, you can see this area, so this is an elongated ovary, and it is a streak of tissue, so it is otherwise called a Streak Gonad. So definitely this ovary is a functional one and probably it is not going to produce any amount of hormones, so probably the animal may be an infertile one.

Ovarian Hypoplasia: So, the hypoplastic ovary undergoes incomplete development and part of the whole ovary lacks a normal number or complement of primordial follicles. If you see normal animals, 50,700 primordial follicles will be that it ranges from 6,800 to 1,00,000 in both the ovaries. But in affected heifers, one ovary was totally or partially hypoplastic and the primordial follicles are very few, especially it ranges from 19,000 to 23,000. So partially affected ovaries with bilateral hypoplasia, the primordial follicle number is very very less, so it is lesser than the 500. So, in the case of totally hypoplastic ovaries with bilateral hypoplasia, no follicle is at all present. So definitely it will be a sterile animal.

So, in Unilateral hypoplasia, the tubular portion of the genital tracks developed normal, so in unilateral, one ovary is maybe normal, another one is hypoplasia ovary, so in that case, the tubular tract, especially the uterus, cervix, and vagina may be developed normally. However, in the case of bilateral total hypoplasia, the genital tracts remain infantile, very smaller, or underdeveloped.

These gonadless heifers appeared normal until breeding age, but no estrum and normal udder development also lagging. So, the genital tract of these heifers is almost juvenile and undeveloped, so estrum does not occur because both ovaries are probably hypoplastic, so it’s not able to secrete a sufficient quantity of estradiol so, the animal remains as an anestrous animal there will be, so the estrous behavior will be absent. So, in bilateral total hypoplasia, the heifer is like a steer with long legs, a narrow pelvis, and a poorly developed udder with small teats and a firm uterus. So, these kinds of symptoms indicate probably the animal is in sterile in nature.

The next one is Oophoritis, so this is an acquired lesion, and it is a somewhat rare lesion of the ovary, Usually seen as the adventitious findings at postmortem examination. So, in tuberculous oophoritis, brucella-induced oophoritis, and ovarian abscessation in animals were reported that have had generalized pyaemia, so the pyaemia is the most common finding, so, the causes may be many, the Enucleation of the corpus luteum for ovarian abscesses is one of the reasons for the oophoritis.

So next condition is Neoplasia:

Neoplasia is also a rare lesion in the bovine ovary. The most commonly encountered tumours are Granulosa cell tumours and Fibromas. Most Granulosa cell tumours are reported from non-pregnant animals and in pregnant animals also. So, these tumours may produce ovarian steroids, the tumour that secret estrogen will result in persistent estrous behaviour. So, in longstanding cases, virilism may occur and the Progesterone or Androgen-secreting tumours resulted in anoestrous, the animal will remain as an anestrous animal. The unaffected ovary-typically regressive and inactive because the tumour will produce a large quantity of ovarian steroids, so which may suppress the unaffected ovary, so it may be inactive and rigorous in nature.

The GCTs, especially the Granulosa Cell Tumours, are generally regarded as a brain tumour, and sometimes metastasis is also not common, so it is an uncommon one. Other occasional tumours are carcinomas, fibromas, thecomas, and sarcomas, and these are generally benign and often massive in size, very larger in size.

In this image, you can see Granulosa cell tumours, while rectal palpation, so it may look like a smooth surface and firm in rectal palpation. So, the presence of the corpus luteum on the contralateral ovary suggested that the tumour is endocrinology active, so the Granulosa cell tumours will produce mostly estradiol, and Another type is Large Granulosa cell tumours, so these types of tumours may have some lobulation in the affected area, bull-like behaviour or aggressive behaviors. The next one is a Parovarian Cyst: this is due to remnants of mesonephric ducts and that is sometimes present in the mesosalpinx of the cows. A tiny para ovarian cyst of a few millimeters in size and is common incidental findings at the time of slaughter, so it is not having any serious complications in the reproductive performance of the animal.

The next acquired lesions are Ovarian bursal disease: so, the ovarian bursal disease is one of the common problems which will end up with sterility or infertility, so what are all the things which cause ovarian bustle adhesions? In older days many veterinarians used to treat cystic ovarian degeneration by rectal palpation or manual enucleation. For example, if the animal is having a follicular cyst, so sometimes this manual rupture or the manual enucleation of the corpus luteum may result in bleeding in the ovarian region, so that will cause further inflammation and it will end up with the ovarian bursal adhesion or ovarian bursal disease. So other causes like injection or infusion of the irritant solution, for example, some of the reports say that the infusion of Lugol’s Iodine solution is also one of the causes for ovarian bursal diseases or *** manipulation or *** manipulation of the rectal examination. So, this is about Ovarian Bursal disease.

In the fallopian tube, there will be common findings of Hydrosalpinx and Pyosalpinx. So, the hydrosalpinx is Cyrus-like fluids that will be accumulated in the fallopian tubes, so this is called hydrosalpinx. Suppose if the puss is accumulated in the fallopian tubes, it means it is otherwise called pyosalpinx. So, in this image, you can see the enlarged fallopian tube same as the fluid in the fallopian tubes, so this will affect or occlude the lumen of the fallopian tube, so which will definitely affect the gamete transport.

So, the summary of the day one lectures we have discussed:

Congenital defects like Ovarian agenesis,

Ovarian hypoplasia,

Oophoritis

Ovarian Neoplasia,

Acquired lesions like Ovarian bursal disease, Hydro, and Pyosalpinx.

So, with these, acquired lesions we conclude the day 1 lecture.

Thank you very much!