The microbial landscape of the genital tract of healthy cows with different gestation periods

Abstract

The doctrine of the normal microflora of the human and animal body is currently in the focus of attention of clinical microbiologists and a wide range of clinical specialists. It is known that the microflora of the vagina depends on many factors of the internal and external  environment,  therefore,  it  is  now considered to be an ecosystem with a unique set of mechanisms that ensure its resistance to  foreign  microorganisms  and  support  reproductive health. The aim of the study was to study changes in vaginal microbiocenosis in cows during different periods of pregnancy.  The  object  of  the  study  was  clinically healthy cows (n=10) of a redmottled breed (holshitinized), and the subject of the study was  cervical–vaginal  mucus.  On  the  150-160, 210-220 and 260-265 days of pregnancy,  mucus  samples  were  taken  from  cows using sterile probe tampons for bacteriological studies. It was found that representatives of  the  normoflora,  as  well  as  conditionally pathogenic and pathogenic microflora were present in the vaginal secretions of animals of  all  periods  of  pregnancy.  However,  the total  bacterial  contamination  of  the  genital tract in cows in the first half and second half of the third trimester of pregnancy was characterized by its decrease by 29.2 and 33.3%, respectively, relative to the data obtained in the second trimester. It should also be noted that by the second half of the third trimester of pregnancy, there is an increase in obligate normoflora due to lacto- and bifidobacteria by 27.1% and 4 times, respectively, with the predominance of the genus Lactobacillus in quantitative terms. Against this background, the amount of transient microflora decreased by 34.2-57.1% (P0.05).