Induced Uterine Infection Perturbs Bovine Endometrial Function

Uterine diseases in dairy cattle are associated with reduced fertility, but the specific mechanisms of disease mediated subfertility are not fully elucidated. We hypothesized that an intrauterine infusion of Escherichia coli and Trueperella pyogenes would alter the endometrial transcriptome at a time coincident with conceptus elongation, and compromise oocyte developmental competence. Sixty-one non-lactating Holstein cows received an intrauterine infusion of either saline (n = 29) or pathogenic E. coli and T. pyogenes (n = 32) to induce acute endometrial inflammation. Endometrial samples were collected via cytobrush 41 d after infusion and analyzed by RNA sequencing. Bacteria infusion altered the expression of 203 genes in the endometrium 41 d after infusion. Top upregulated genes were GSTA3, PVALB, JAKMIP2, FOLH1B, TCF23, and top downregulated genes were MYMK, LOC104974498, CDRT1, KIAA0408, SLC45A2. The differentially expressed genes were functionally annotated to 54 canonical pathways with glutathione-mediated detoxification being the top predicted pathway altered following bacteria infusion. Collectively, this work demonstrates that bacterial infections can have lasting effects on the uterus which may provide a link to the long-term subfertility of cows after uterine disease. Overall design: RNA-seq profiling of endometrial cytobrush samples collected on day 16 of the esrous cycle, 41 days after intrauterne infusion of E. coli MS499 and T. pyogenes MS249 or PBS control.