Metabolic signature of cervical mucus in ewe breeds with divergent cervical sperm transport: a focus on metabolites involved in amino acid metabolism
-
Published:2023-06-20
Issue:7
Volume:19
Page:
-
ISSN:1573-3890
-
Container-title:Metabolomics
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Metabolomics
Author:
Abril-Parreño Laura,Druart Xavier,Fair Sean,Krogenaes Anette
Abstract
Abstract
Introduction
Cervical artificial insemination (AI) with frozen-thawed semen in sheep has yielded unacceptably low pregnancy rates. The exception is in Norway where vaginal AI yields non-return rates in excess of 60%, which has been attributed to the ewe breed used.
Objectives and methods
This study aimed to characterise, for the first time, the ovine follicular phase cervical mucus metabolome, with a focus on the amino acid profile. Cervical mucus was collected from four European ewe breeds with known differences in pregnancy rates following cervical AI with frozen-thawed semen. These were Suffolk (low fertility), Belclare (medium fertility), Norwegian White Sheep (NWS) and Fur (both high fertility).
Results
A total of 689 metabolites were identified in the cervical mucus of all the four ewe breeds. Of these, 458 metabolites were altered by ewe breed, which had the greatest effect in the dataset (P < 0.05). We detected 194 metabolites involved in the amino acid pathway, of which 133, 56 and 63 were affected by ewe breed, type of cycle and their interaction, respectively (P < 0.05). N-methylhydantoin and N-carbamoylsarcosine (degradation products of creatinine pathway) exhibited the greatest fold change decrease in the Suffolk breed compared to Fur and NWS (P < 0.001). Oxidized metabolites were also decreased in Suffolk compared to high fertility breeds (P < 0.05). In contrast, other metabolites such as 3-indoxyl-sulfate, putrescine, cadaverine were significantly increased in Suffolk at the synchronised cycle.
Conclusion
The suboptimal amino acid profile in the cervical mucus of the low fertility Suffolk breed may have negative consequences for sperm transport.
Funder
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Clinical Biochemistry,Biochemistry,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Reference47 articles.
1. Abril-Parreño, L., Krogenæs, A. K., Byrne, C. J., Donovan, A., Stuen, S., Caldas, E., Diskin, M., Druart, X., & Fair, S. (2021a). Ewe breed differences in cervical anatomy and cervicovaginal mucus properties: An international study. Theriogenology, 160, 18–25. 2. Abril-Parreño, L., Meade, K. G., Krogenæs, A. K., Druart, X., Fair, S., & Cormican, P. (2021b). Conserved and breed-specific differences in the cervical transcriptome of sheep with divergent fertility at the follicular phase of a natural oestrus cycle. Bmc Genomics, 22, 752. 3. Abril-Parreño, L., Wilkinson, H., Krogenæs, A., Morgan, J., Gallagher, M. E., Reid, C., Druart, X., Fair, S., & Saldova, R. (2021c). Identification and characterization of O-linked glycans in cervical mucus as biomarkers of sperm transport: A novel sheep model. Glycobiology. 4. Abril-Parreño, L., Meade, K. G., Krogenæs, A. K., Druart, X., Cormican, P., & Fair, S. (2022a). Ewe breed differences in the cervical transcriptome at the follicular phase of a synchronised oestrous cycle. Bmc Genomics, 23, 363. 5. Abril-Parreño, L., Morgan, J., Krogenæs, A., Druart, X., Cormican, P., Gallagher, M. E., Reid, C., Meade, K., Saldova, R., & Fair, S. (2022b). Biochemical and molecular characterisation of sialylated cervical mucins in sheep. Biol Reprod.
|
|