Absence of Fetal Cells in Bovine Jugular and Uterine Vein Blood at a Level of 1 in 10,000.

The objective of this study was to determine if bovine fetal cell DNA is present in pregnant maternal blood as human fetal cells are present in the blood of pregnant women after they cross the placenta and penetrate into the v. uterina. The btDYZ PCR amplification was employed to detect male-specific DNA of bovine male fetal cells. Blood samples were collected from the v. uterina and v. jugularis externa of 3 pregnant cows (2 with male fetuses and 1 with a female fetus 12 to 20 wks of age) and from only the v. jugularis externa of 33 pregnant cows (with 18 male and 15 female fetuses 10 to 40 wks of age). All blood samples were male-specific DNA negative, which indicated that fetal cells were absent in bovine maternal blood at a level of 1 in 10, 000 and, therefore, cannot be used for prenatal sexing with PCR.