Effect on fertility of uterine lavage performed immediately prior to insemination in mares.

The research article investigates the impact of uterine lavage, a flushing of the uterus with a solution, executed right before insemination without affecting the mares’ fertility. This method is particularly useful when a mare experiences inflammation-associated fluid within the uterus, which can impact sperm activity and subsequently, fertility.

Introduction

• The study’s goal was to figure out if large-volume uterine lavage with Lactated Ringer’s Solution (LRS) immediately before insemination has a varying effect on the fertility of mares.
• The need for this research arises from the desire to remove inflammation-associated fluid in the uterus of mares, which could hamper sperm motility and fertility.
• This situation generally occurs when mares need rebreeding after developing persistent mating-induced endometritis or are inseminated multiple times within a 24-hour period, a standard practice when using cooled or frozen-thawed semen.

Methods

• The study was a prospective randomized controlled trial, involving 20 mares that were divided into control and treatment groups, each with 10 mares.
• The control group was inseminated with 1 billion progressively motile spermatozoa that were cooled in a passive cooling unit for 24 hours.
• The treatment group, on the other hand, had their uteruses flushed with 4L of sterile LRS immediately before being inseminated in the same way as the control group.

Results

• The results showed no significant differences in pregnancy rates or the size of the embryonic vesicle on days 12, 13, and 14 after ovulation between both the control and treated groups.
• This suggests that the process of uterine lavage with LRS before insemination does not negatively impact the fertility of mares.

Conclusion

• The study concludes that uterine lavage with LRS can be done immediately before insemination without negatively impacting a mare’s fertility. It is a clinically important finding as it can help remove any inflammation-associated fluid in the uterus, which can affect the motility and fertility of the sperm.
• This process becomes highly important and useful when mares require rebreeding after they have developed persistent mating-induced endometritis or are inseminated numerous times in a single day, which is a typical practice when using cooled or thawed-frozen semen.