Monitoring bovine embryo viability with early pregnancy factor

The viability of the bovine embryo was monitored by measuring the early pregnancy factor (EPF). The EPF activity was measured by the rosette inhibition test before and after artificial insemination (AI) at natural estrus (n = 14), and after superovulatory treatment followed by embryo removal on day 7 after AI (n = 5). In the cows inseminated artificially at natural estrus, there were significant differences (p < 0.01) in the rosette inhibition titer (RIT) between pregnant and non-pregnant cows on day 13-16 and day 20-25 after AI. In the 8 pregnant cows, the RIT remained more than 5 from day 6-9 after AI. In the 6 non-pregnant cows, two patterns were observed. In one pattern, RIT rose transiently to more than 5 and decreased to less than 4 thereafter. In the other pattern, RIT remained less than 4 throughout the experimental period. The former pattern suggested early embryonic death, while the latter suggested that fertilization had not taken place or that early embryonic death had occurred before the first blood collection on day 6-9 after AI. In the cows superovulated followed by embryo removal on day 7 after AI, the RIT values were all less than 4 on the day of AI (day 0), rose to more than 5 on day 3 and thereafter then until the day of embryo removal on day 7. In 4 cows, the RIT decreased to less than 4 by 3 days after embryo removal, and in the remaining one cow, the RIT decreased to less than 4 by 7 days after embryo removal. These findings suggest that the measurement of EPF activity is useful for monitoring the viability of bovine embryos.