Abstract:
Repeat-breeding Holstein cows (RBCs), i.e. cows that have undergone three or more AIs, have reduced pregnancy rates. The present study aimed to determine whether application of a combination of a PRID� (ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan) + prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) for estrus synchronization and AI + embryo transfer (ET) would improve pregnancy rates in RBCs. All RBCs selected showed a normal interval between the previous insemination and estrus, and were free of clinical disorders. The RBCs (n = 107) received a PRID for 9 days with a capsule containing 10 mg of estradiol benzoate, 0.5 mg IM of cloprostenol (PGF2α, Resipron�-C; ASKA, Japan) at 2 days before PRID removal. The cows were inseminated with frozen-thawed semen from a bull at 0 to 12 h after onset of estrus. Seven days after AI, single in vitro-produced embryos were transferred to the same RBCs. Pregnancy was diagnosed by palpation per rectum at e60 days post-insemination. Exp. 1 estimated the response to estrus synchronization treatment (n = 107). The factors examined were lactation number (mean � SD: 2.3 � 1.5, range: 1-6), insemination number (5.2 � 2.2, range: 3-13), and the interval from calving to next AI (275.9 � 97.6 days, range: 93-650 days). Exp. 2 compared the pregnancy rate in control RBCs (n = 161) and PRID-treated RBCs (n = 100). The factors examined included lactation number (2.5 � 1.6, range: 1-12), insemination number (6.0 � 2.5, range: 3-19), the interval from calving to next AI (288.0 � 102.1 days, range: 102-797 days), and whether the ET was into the uterine horn ipsilateral or contralateral to the CL in a total of 261 RBCs. Data were analyzed using logistic regression. The results for Exp. 1: 103 cows (96.3%) were confirmed to be in estrus (2.0 � 0.3 days after PRID removal). Although the frequency of estrus was affected by the lactation number (P = 0.014) and the interval from calving to the first AI (P = 0.005), the AI number did not have an affect (P = 0.624). Exp. 2: PRID synchronization had no effect on pregnancy rate (control: 37.3%, 60/161; and PRID-treated: 40.0%, 40/100). For the RBCs, the pregnancy rate was not affected by lactation number (P = 0.093), AI number (P = 0.694), or the interval from calving to next AI (P = 0.762). No significant difference (P = 0.428) in pregnancy rate was observed in cows when the embryos were transferred into the uterine horn contralateral to the CL (43.5%, 20/46), compared to those embryos transferred into the uterus horn ipsilateral to the CL (37.2%, 80/215). In conclusion, our findings suggest that the pregnancy rate may be improved by considering lactation number and the interval from calving to the next AI of RBCs in estrus synchronization using a combination of PRID + PGF2α and AI + ET.