Prospective cohort study demonstrates altered progesterone profiles and prolonged luteal phases in postpartum dairy cows with inflammation, highlighting a pathway to reduced fertility.
Key Points
Postpartum systemic and uterine inflammation disrupts luteal phase dynamics in dairy cows, causing lower circulating progesterone concentrations and delayed luteal regression.
Cows with inflammatory disorders showed 67% odds of a prolonged luteal phase compared with 37% in healthy controls, alongside reduced peak progesterone concentrations.
Prospective cohort study of 708 dairy cows reveals that early endometritis and elevated haptoglobin impair luteolysis, highlighting an endocrine link to reduced herd fertility.