Effects of parity, blood progesterone, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory treatment on the dynamics of the uterine microbiota of healthy postpartum dairy cows

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of treatment with meloxicam (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), parity, and blood progesterone concentration on the dynamics of the uterine microbiome of clinically healthy postpartum dairy cows. Seven primiparous and 9 multiparous postpartum Holstein cows received meloxicam (0.5 mg/kg SC, n = 7 cows) once daily for 4 days (10 to 13 days in milk (DIM)) or were untreated (n = 9 cows). Endometrial cytology samples were collected by cytobrush at 10, 21, and 35 DIM, from which the metagenomic analysis was done using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. A radioimmunoassay was used to measure progesterone concentration in blood serum samples at 35 DIM and cows were classified as > 1 ng/mL (n = 10) or [&le;] 1 ng/mL (n = 6). Alpha diversity for bacterial genera (Chao1, Shannon-Weiner, and Camargos evenness indices) were not affected by DIM, meloxicam treatment, parity, or progesterone category (P > 0.2). For beta diversity (genera level), principal coordinate analysis (Bray-Curtis) showed differences in microbiome between parity groups (P = 0.01). There was lower overall abundance of Anaerococcus, Bifidobacterium, Corynebacterium, Lactobacillus, Paracoccus, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus and higher abundance of Bacillus, Fusobacterium, and Novosphingobium in primiparous than multiparous cows (P < 0.05); these patterns were consistent across sampling days. Bray-Curtis dissimilarity did not differ by DIM at sampling, meloxicam treatment, or progesterone category at 35 DIM (P > 0.5). In conclusion, uterine bacterial composition was not different at 10, 21, or 35 DIM, and meloxicam treatment or progesterone category did not affect uterine microbiota in clinically healthy postpartum dairy cows. Primiparous cows presented a different composition of uterine bacteria than multiparous cows. The differences in microbiome associated with parity might be attributable to changes that occur consequent to the first calving, but this hypothesis should be investigated further.