A simple, inexpensive and portable on-farm test for pregnancy diagnosis and ovary status in cows via chemical analysis of urine

Md Hakimul Haque; Shamarendra Narayan; Md S Islam; Mousumi Akter; Md M Hasan; Rakibul Islam; Mohammad B Rashid

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.08.017

A simple, inexpensive and portable on-farm test for pregnancy diagnosis and ovary status in cows via chemical analysis of urine

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2023 Oct 15:677:113-118. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.08.017. Epub 2023 Aug 9.

Authors

Md Hakimul Haque¹, Shamarendra Narayan², Md S Islam³, Mousumi Akter², Md M Hasan², Rakibul Islam², Mohammad B Rashid⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
² Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, 5200, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Anatomy and Histology, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, 5200, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, 5200, Bangladesh. Electronic address: bazlar116@hstu.ac.bd.

PMID: 37572390
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.08.017

Abstract

Ovary dysfunction causes an aberrant endocrine surge at various reproductive cycle stages, negatively impacting fertility and economic profit. Optimizing dairy cow performance requires determining ovarian status and detecting early pregnancy. Still, little to no information is available about the diagnosis of the ovarian condition using urine chemical analysis at the field level in Bangladesh. This study aimed to develop a simple, inexpensive and portable on-farm technique for pregnancy diagnosis and ovary status determination in cows via chemical urine analysis. Fifty reproductively healthy cows were recruited from different donor farms. Prior to artificial insemination (AI), all selected cows were placed in a single ovsynch program. TAI (timed artificial insemination) was carried out. Urine was routinely collected from Day 0-55 days at estrus cycle stages for routine chemical analysis using barium chloride (BaCl₂), followed by commercially available protein strip tests. The developed techniques for pregnancy and ovary status diagnosis in cows were validated with rectal palpation (RP). Barium chloride (BaCl₂) analysis of urine revealed white precipitation corresponding to a mature follicle in the ovary during estrus and colorless precipitation corresponding to the corpus luteum during the diestrus period. Positive pregnancy was indicated by the presence of a colorless precipitate in the BaCl₂ test, and a protein value of less than 100 mg/dl was found in the protein strip test. The maximum accuracy (42/50, 84%) was observed between 25 and 35 days, as confirmed by RP. Perplexing results were seen 45-55 days after AI, between pregnancies and luteal cystic disease. In both cases, we discovered that the BaCl₂ precipitation was colorless. However, the protein value in the context of luteal cystic disease was found to be higher than 100 mg/dl. The barium chloride test, followed by protein strip tests, is a simple and portable way to diagnose pregnancy and determine ovarian status in cows at the field level.

Keywords: Chemical analysis; Cows; Ovary status; Pregnancy diagnosis; Urine.