Modulation of the maternal immune system by the bovine conceptus in early pregnancy

• Grant number: 24/17467-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: Guilherme Pugliesi
• Grantee: Beatriz Guerrero Monegat
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/14936-7 - Innate immune response to conceptus signaling in early pregnancy in cattle, AP.R

Abstract

New technologies to reliably detect pregnancy before the 21st day after inseminationwould allow the opportunity for new service at the next estrus and could improve reproductiveperformance and profitability for commercial dairy and beef farms. Thus, the quantification ofgenes stimulated by interferon-¿ (ISG) in peripheral blood leukocytes and Dopplerultrasonography of the corpus luteum (CL) were tested by the Physiology and MolecularEndocrinology Laboratory group as early methods of pregnancy diagnosis. Although theassessment of luteolysis by Doppler ultrasonography is an excellent pregnancy predictor, it isnot efficient in monitoring the viability of the conceptus and in predicting embryonic mortalitybetween 20 and 30 days in cattle with active CL. Furthermore, the proportion of false-negativeresults is still not adequate for the use of ISG expression as an accurate and viable methodfor detecting pregnancy before the 20th day. Therefore, a better understanding of the basicevents involved in modulating the immune system in early pregnancy is the first step towardsdiscovering new biomarkers for earlier pregnancy detection than traditional methodologies.Therefore, the main objective of this study is to understand the maternal response to conceptussignaling between days 15 and 20 of pregnancy, in order to understand the modulation of theimmune system during early pregnancy. To this end, the profile of pro- and anti-inflammatorycytokines involved in the uterine and peripheral immune response will be determined using anin vitro immune cell culture system associated with treatments with uterine flushing (UF) andIFN-¿. In advance, it is important to emphasize that understanding the events related to thelocal and circulating maternal immune response to the conceptus during early pregnancy usingthe proposed in vitro model has the potential to result in the discovery of new pregnancymarkers that can be determined in peripheral blood or in immune cells. The new knowledgeand innovative methods proposed here will serve as a basis for the development of new technologies for cattle. Practicality is guaranteed by the joint work of specialists in eachanalytical step and by the infrastructure of the institutions involved.