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Influence of Undernutrition on the Histology and Histochemistry of the Bovine Endometrium¹

Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29631

Abstract

Infertility is commonly associated with undernutrition in beef heifers. (Warnick, Meade and Koger, 1960; McClure, 1961; Wiltbank et al., 1962; Wiltbank et al., 1964; McClure, 1965; Lamond, 1969). Uterine secretions are important for the nourishment of the unattached embryo in the uterine lumen as shown by metabolic requirements for embryos cultured in vitro and cases of sterility correlated with low endometrial glycogen content (Rubulis, Jacobs and Hughes, 1965). Inadequate nutrition can alter the delicate balance between the hypophysis and the gonad (Lutwak-Mann, 1958; Leathern, 1961) and, consequently, may upset the estrogen to progesterone relationship. The synergistic action of estrogen and progesterone upon the uterus is necessary for embryo survival and placentation (Wynn, 1967).

The objectives of this study were to utilize histology and carbohydrate histochemistry as a means of describing the uterine environment associated with the development of the embryo prior to implantation and to determine if undernutrition can alter this environment.

¹ Published with approval of the Director of the South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station as Technical Contribution No. 944.