Differential neutrophil gene expression in blood and milk during pre-implantation pregnancy in Karan Fries cattle

ABSTRACT

The blood leucocytes, neutrophils being the first line of defense, detect the implanting embryo, which is semi-allogenic, and show changes in their gene expression. It is possible to diagnose cattle as non-pregnant around 21–24 days post insemination by progesterone (P4) assay. Concentration of progesterone level in the inseminated animals may not be an accurate method for early pregnancy diagnosis. Identification of suitable methods that allow pregnancy diagnosis around or before day 20 after artificial insemination (AI) will be of considerable value. The present study has been carried out to understand the differential gene expression of IFI16 (interferon-inducible protein 16), MX1 (Myxovirus resistance 1), OAS1 (2'-5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase 1) and TNFα (tumor necrosis factor alpha) genes on 0, 4, 8, 12, 15, 18 and 21 days post AI, respectively, from Karan Fries cattle as a tool for early pregnancy diagnosis in neutrophil cells isolated from blood and milk. Statistical analysis between pregnant and non-pregnant animals in both blood and milk samples revealed that IFI16 gene was upregulated in the milk samples of pregnant animals on 8th day post-AI and found to be significantly different (P < 0.05) between pregnant and non-pregnant cattle and may be used as a biomarker for early pregnancy detection in cattle.

KEYWORDS:

• Cattle
• pre-implantation pregnancy
• gene expression
• blood
• milk

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology (Grant Number: BT/PR8404/AAQ/1/548/2013; DATED: 11/06/2014), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The authors are thankful to them for providing financial support to carry out this research work. The lab facilities provided by ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, India, and ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute are also thankfully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability

Data supporting this paper are available and should be requested directly from the corresponding author.