Up-regulation of inflammatory, oxidative stress, and apoptotic mediators via inflammatory, oxidative stress, and apoptosis-associated pathways in bovine endometritis

Abstract

Endometritis is the inflammation of the endothelial lining of the uterine lumen and is multifactorial in etiology. Escherichia (E.) coli is a Gram-negative bacteria, generally considered as a primary causative agent for bovine endometritis. Bovine endometritis is characterized by the activation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) by E. coli, which in turn triggers inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. The objective of this study was to investigate the gene expression of inflammatory, oxidative stress, and apoptotic markers related to endometritis in the uteri of cows. Twenty uterine tissues were collected from the abattoir. Histologically, congestion, edema, hyperemia, and hemorrhagic lesions with massive infiltration of neutrophil and cell necrosis were detected markedly (P < 0.05) in infected uterine samples. Additionally, we identify E. coli using the ybbW gene (177 base pairs; E. coli-specific gene) from infected uterine samples. Moreover, qPCR and western blot results indicated that TLR2, TLR4, proinflammatory mediators, and apoptosis-mediated genes upregulated except Bcl-2, which is antiapoptotic, and there were downregulations of oxidative stress-related genes in the infected uterine tissue. The results of our study suggested that different gene expression regimes related to the immune system reflex were activated in infected uteri. This research gives a novel understanding of active immunological response in bovine endometritis.

Keywords: Bovine endometritis; Escherichia coli; Inflammation; Oxidative stress and apoptosis.