Impact of pregnancy status on the transcriptome of peripheral white blood cells. Impact of pregnancy status on the transcriptome of peripheral white blood cells

Pregnancy poses an immunological challenge because the fetus must be supported within the pregnant female during the entire gestational period. Indeed, the mechanisms behind the maternal immune respond to pregnancy are not fully understand yet. As such, the goal of this study was to compare the gene expression profiles of peripheral blood leukocytes between pregnant and non-pregnant dairy cows 21 after embryo transfer. Overall design: Nulliparous Holstein heifers were subjected to embryo transfer using fresh IVF embryos. Pregnancy diagnosis was performed on day 21 after embryo transfer. A total of 10 heifers, 5 pregnant and 5 non-pregnant, were used in this study.

妊娠会构成一项免疫学层面的挑战，因为在整个妊娠期内，妊娠雌性个体需要为胎儿提供生存支持。事实上，母体针对妊娠的免疫应答机制目前尚未被完全阐明。有鉴于此，本研究旨在比较胚胎移植后21天时，妊娠与未妊娠奶牛外周血白细胞的基因表达谱。
整体实验设计：本研究选用未产过犊的荷斯坦小母牛，采用新鲜体外受精（In Vitro Fertilization，IVF）胚胎实施胚胎移植。于胚胎移植后第21天开展妊娠诊断。本研究共纳入10头小母牛，其中妊娠组与未妊娠组各5头。