This article was downloaded by: [UQ Library] On: 22 November 2014, At: 07:55 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
New Zealand Veterinary Journal Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tnzv20
Commercial surgical embryo transfer in cattle a
D.P.J. Marshall & G.A. Struthers a
b
P.O. Box 98, Otautau, Southland
b
P.O. Box 4, Winton, Southland Published online: 23 Feb 2011.
To cite this article: D.P.J. Marshall & G.A. Struthers (1978) Commercial surgical embryo transfer in cattle, New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 26:11, 287-287, DOI: 10.1080/00480169.1978.34570 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00480169.1978.34570
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http:// www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
op., and 77% : 5th op. (Table II). Thirty-seven donors were operated on twice during the season. The number of pregnancies for two operations ranged from 1-36 with an average of 12.12 pregnancies (Table III).
CORRESPONDENCE
Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 07:55 22 November 2014
COMMERCIAL SURGICAL EMBRYO TRANSFER IN CAmE
Sir, - Surgical embryo recovery and transfer techniques have been used commercially in cattie, by the authors, for 5 years. This letter describes the results achieved in the 1977-78 season at Wairaki Station in Southland. The work was done in two 6-week periods during November-December 1977 and March-April 1978. The results demonstrate successful superovulation and em bryo collection with repeat donor treatments and operations. The em bryo collection rates and pregnancy rates are superior to those achieved by non-surgical methods. The technique used was similar to that earlier described by the authorsOl. Results are from all donors operated on. Fifteen per cent of donors given superovulation treatment were not operated on beca use of poor superovulation response, or because of irregular heat. or absence of heat following treatments. Superovulation response prior to surgery was determined by rectal palpation of the ovaries. If one, or no, c.L. was palpated, the donor was re-programmed or left in-calf. The donors operated on comprised 41 cows and 36 heifers: 30 SimmentaL 15 Charolais, 13 Limousin, 8 Chianina, 5 Marchi~lna. 3 Romagnola and 3 Maine Anjou. One hundred and fourteen donor operations were performed with a pregnancy rate of 67.1 % (at 90-day preg. test), averaging TABLE I: PREGNANCY RATES WITH REPEAT OPERATIONS Donor operation
287
NEW ZEALAND VETERINARY JOURNAL
1978
No. of operations
Pregnancies Pregnancies per operation
% pregnant recipients receiving embryos
114 618 5.42 67.1 Total First 17 69 4.06 65.7 65.3 Second 33 186 5.64 Third 39 222 5.69 69.8 Fourth 23 132 5.74 67.3 Fifth 4.50 52.9 2 9 5.42 pregnancies per donor operation. The cows averaged 6.54 and the heifers 3.83. The num ber of pregnancies per donor operation ranged from 0-20. Ninety-seven operations were on donors that had previously been operated on, either during the 1977-78 season, or earlier seasons, at Wairaki, or at other embryo-transfer centres. Thirty-three operations were second operations, 39 third, 23 fourth and 2 fifth. Consistently good pregnancy rates were achieved with repeat donor operations (Table I). The superovulation response fell slightly with successive superovulation treatments, 19.47 CL: 1st treatment to 15.86 CL : 4th treatment (Table II). The embryo recovery remained constant with repeat donor operations. 67% : 1st op., 79% : 2nd op., 71 % : 3rd op., 73% : 4th
TABLE II: SUPEROVULATION RESPONSE AND EMBRYO RECOVERY RATE Donor operation
No. operations
Total First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Av. no. CL's Av. no. Embryos % embryos per donor op recovered recovered nO.ofCL.
114 17 33 39 23 2
16.35 19.47 15.64 16.15 15.86 11.00
11.94 13.00 12.42 11.49 11.52 8.50
73 67 79 71 73 77
TABLE IJI: AVERAGE NUMBER OF PREGNANCIES FOR DONORS OPERATED ON TWICE DURING THE SEASON No. of Av. no. donors pregnancies Total donors operated on twice 1st & 2nd operations 2nd & 3rd operations 3rd & 4th operations 4th & 5th operations
37 8 9
19
12.12 9.75 13.44 12.53 11.00
These results show that, given the necessary expertise, the surgical embryo-recovery technique can be applied repeatedly and can achieve recovery rates superior to that of non-surgical collection(3). Non-surgical collection rates have been reported by Alexander ' ) as 6.8 embryos per recovery, by Brand(2 ) as 3.8, by Elsden(4) as 7.4 and by Greve and Lehn-l ensen et al. IS) as 4.1. The estimated percentage of embryos recovered (per CL present on rectal palpation of ovaries) ranges from 32-53 %( 2)(3) (8). Our results of73% embryo-recovery rate, and 11.94 embryos recovered per donor operation, compares favourably with these figures. The pregnancy rates achieved by non-surgical transfer are variable(3). Screenan(8) reports 60% conception rate (6/10), Lawson and Rowson et al.(6) 35% (7/20), Tervit and Goold et al.(9) 50% (8/16), Brand(2 ) 32% (27/83) and Trounson and Rowson(lO) as 58 %(14/24); the three betterresuits(S)(9) (10) are based on a small number of recipients. An example from our work - 16/16 recipients pregnant from one day's operations and 6/16 from another - show that conclusions cannot be made in such cases. The pregnancy rate of 67.1 % (618/920) compares favourably with the non-surgical rates. D. P. 1. Marshall,
P.O. Box 98, Otautau, Southland.
G. A. Struthers, P.O. Box 4, Winton, Southland.
9th October 1978.
References
(I) Alexander, A. M. (1977): In: Embyro transfer in farm animals. a review of techniques
and applications. Ed. Betteridge. K. J. p. 17 Canada Department of Agriculture. Monograph 16. (2) Brand, A. (1978): Embyro-transfer in lactating dairy cattle and factors affecting pregnancy rates. Theriogenology 9: I. (3) Brand, A. and Drost, M. (1977): In: Embyro transfers in farm animals. a review of techniques and applications. Ed. Betteridge, K. J. p. 16 and 31. Canada Department of Agriculture. Monograph 16. (4) Elsden. R. P. (1977): Non-surgical recovery of bovine ova. World Farming, Oct. 18. (5) Greve, T.; Lehn-lensen. H. and Rasbech. N. O. (1977); Non-surgical recovery of bovine embryos. Theriogenology 7:4. (6) Lawson, R. A. S.; Rowson. L. E. A.: Moor. R. M. and Tervit. H. R.( 1977): In: Embryo transfers in farm animals, a review of techniques and applications. Ed. Betteridge. K. J. p.32, Canada Department of Agriculture. Monograph 16. (7) Marshall. D. P. l. and Struthers, G. A. (1978): Commercial embryo-transfers in cattle. N.Z. vet. J. 26:92-5. (8) Sreenan, l. M. (1978): Non-surgical egg recovery and transfer in the cow. Vet. Rec. 102: 58. (9) Tervit. H. R.; Goold. P. G. and Cooper, M. W. ('1978): Non-surgical embryo transfers in cattle. N.z. ·vet. J. 26:215. (10) Trounson, A. D.: Rowson. L. E. A. and Willadsen. S. M. (1978): Non-surgical embryo transfer of bovine embryos. Vet. Ref. 102:74.
New Zealand Veterinary Journal Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tnzv20
Commercial surgical embryo transfer in cattle a
D.P.J. Marshall & G.A. Struthers a
b
P.O. Box 98, Otautau, Southland
b
P.O. Box 4, Winton, Southland Published online: 23 Feb 2011.
To cite this article: D.P.J. Marshall & G.A. Struthers (1978) Commercial surgical embryo transfer in cattle, New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 26:11, 287-287, DOI: 10.1080/00480169.1978.34570 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00480169.1978.34570
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http:// www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
op., and 77% : 5th op. (Table II). Thirty-seven donors were operated on twice during the season. The number of pregnancies for two operations ranged from 1-36 with an average of 12.12 pregnancies (Table III).
CORRESPONDENCE
Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 07:55 22 November 2014
COMMERCIAL SURGICAL EMBRYO TRANSFER IN CAmE
Sir, - Surgical embryo recovery and transfer techniques have been used commercially in cattie, by the authors, for 5 years. This letter describes the results achieved in the 1977-78 season at Wairaki Station in Southland. The work was done in two 6-week periods during November-December 1977 and March-April 1978. The results demonstrate successful superovulation and em bryo collection with repeat donor treatments and operations. The em bryo collection rates and pregnancy rates are superior to those achieved by non-surgical methods. The technique used was similar to that earlier described by the authorsOl. Results are from all donors operated on. Fifteen per cent of donors given superovulation treatment were not operated on beca use of poor superovulation response, or because of irregular heat. or absence of heat following treatments. Superovulation response prior to surgery was determined by rectal palpation of the ovaries. If one, or no, c.L. was palpated, the donor was re-programmed or left in-calf. The donors operated on comprised 41 cows and 36 heifers: 30 SimmentaL 15 Charolais, 13 Limousin, 8 Chianina, 5 Marchi~lna. 3 Romagnola and 3 Maine Anjou. One hundred and fourteen donor operations were performed with a pregnancy rate of 67.1 % (at 90-day preg. test), averaging TABLE I: PREGNANCY RATES WITH REPEAT OPERATIONS Donor operation
287
NEW ZEALAND VETERINARY JOURNAL
1978
No. of operations
Pregnancies Pregnancies per operation
% pregnant recipients receiving embryos
114 618 5.42 67.1 Total First 17 69 4.06 65.7 65.3 Second 33 186 5.64 Third 39 222 5.69 69.8 Fourth 23 132 5.74 67.3 Fifth 4.50 52.9 2 9 5.42 pregnancies per donor operation. The cows averaged 6.54 and the heifers 3.83. The num ber of pregnancies per donor operation ranged from 0-20. Ninety-seven operations were on donors that had previously been operated on, either during the 1977-78 season, or earlier seasons, at Wairaki, or at other embryo-transfer centres. Thirty-three operations were second operations, 39 third, 23 fourth and 2 fifth. Consistently good pregnancy rates were achieved with repeat donor operations (Table I). The superovulation response fell slightly with successive superovulation treatments, 19.47 CL: 1st treatment to 15.86 CL : 4th treatment (Table II). The embryo recovery remained constant with repeat donor operations. 67% : 1st op., 79% : 2nd op., 71 % : 3rd op., 73% : 4th
TABLE II: SUPEROVULATION RESPONSE AND EMBRYO RECOVERY RATE Donor operation
No. operations
Total First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Av. no. CL's Av. no. Embryos % embryos per donor op recovered recovered nO.ofCL.
114 17 33 39 23 2
16.35 19.47 15.64 16.15 15.86 11.00
11.94 13.00 12.42 11.49 11.52 8.50
73 67 79 71 73 77
TABLE IJI: AVERAGE NUMBER OF PREGNANCIES FOR DONORS OPERATED ON TWICE DURING THE SEASON No. of Av. no. donors pregnancies Total donors operated on twice 1st & 2nd operations 2nd & 3rd operations 3rd & 4th operations 4th & 5th operations
37 8 9
19
12.12 9.75 13.44 12.53 11.00
These results show that, given the necessary expertise, the surgical embryo-recovery technique can be applied repeatedly and can achieve recovery rates superior to that of non-surgical collection(3). Non-surgical collection rates have been reported by Alexander ' ) as 6.8 embryos per recovery, by Brand(2 ) as 3.8, by Elsden(4) as 7.4 and by Greve and Lehn-l ensen et al. IS) as 4.1. The estimated percentage of embryos recovered (per CL present on rectal palpation of ovaries) ranges from 32-53 %( 2)(3) (8). Our results of73% embryo-recovery rate, and 11.94 embryos recovered per donor operation, compares favourably with these figures. The pregnancy rates achieved by non-surgical transfer are variable(3). Screenan(8) reports 60% conception rate (6/10), Lawson and Rowson et al.(6) 35% (7/20), Tervit and Goold et al.(9) 50% (8/16), Brand(2 ) 32% (27/83) and Trounson and Rowson(lO) as 58 %(14/24); the three betterresuits(S)(9) (10) are based on a small number of recipients. An example from our work - 16/16 recipients pregnant from one day's operations and 6/16 from another - show that conclusions cannot be made in such cases. The pregnancy rate of 67.1 % (618/920) compares favourably with the non-surgical rates. D. P. 1. Marshall,
P.O. Box 98, Otautau, Southland.
G. A. Struthers, P.O. Box 4, Winton, Southland.
9th October 1978.
References
(I) Alexander, A. M. (1977): In: Embyro transfer in farm animals. a review of techniques
and applications. Ed. Betteridge. K. J. p. 17 Canada Department of Agriculture. Monograph 16. (2) Brand, A. (1978): Embyro-transfer in lactating dairy cattle and factors affecting pregnancy rates. Theriogenology 9: I. (3) Brand, A. and Drost, M. (1977): In: Embyro transfers in farm animals. a review of techniques and applications. Ed. Betteridge, K. J. p. 16 and 31. Canada Department of Agriculture. Monograph 16. (4) Elsden. R. P. (1977): Non-surgical recovery of bovine ova. World Farming, Oct. 18. (5) Greve, T.; Lehn-lensen. H. and Rasbech. N. O. (1977); Non-surgical recovery of bovine embryos. Theriogenology 7:4. (6) Lawson, R. A. S.; Rowson. L. E. A.: Moor. R. M. and Tervit. H. R.( 1977): In: Embryo transfers in farm animals, a review of techniques and applications. Ed. Betteridge. K. J. p.32, Canada Department of Agriculture. Monograph 16. (7) Marshall. D. P. l. and Struthers, G. A. (1978): Commercial embryo-transfers in cattle. N.Z. vet. J. 26:92-5. (8) Sreenan, l. M. (1978): Non-surgical egg recovery and transfer in the cow. Vet. Rec. 102: 58. (9) Tervit. H. R.; Goold. P. G. and Cooper, M. W. ('1978): Non-surgical embryo transfers in cattle. N.z. ·vet. J. 26:215. (10) Trounson, A. D.: Rowson. L. E. A. and Willadsen. S. M. (1978): Non-surgical embryo transfer of bovine embryos. Vet. Ref. 102:74.
