Relationships between the first ovulation postpartum and polymorphism in genes relating to function of immunity, metabolism and reproduction in high-producing dairy cows

The decrease in fertility and conception rates of high-producing dairy cows is one of the major negative impacts for today's producers. The recovery of ovarian activity postpartum is affected by the status of immunity, metabolism and reproduction and plays a critical role in subsequent fertility after parturition in the cow. In the present study we investigated the relationships between polymorphisms in genes relating to the above functions and the first postpartum ovulation as a marker of the recovery of ovarian function in the cow. In immune function related-factors, the occurrence of first postpartum ovulation within 3 weeks in the C/C genotypes of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) exon (55.4%) and the A/G genotypes of TNFα promoter (55.4%) was significantly higher than that in T/T genotypes of TNFα exon (14.3%) and A/A genotypes of TNFα promoter (14.3%). Moreover, anovulatory cows with the T/T genotype of TNFα exon and the A/A genotype of TNFα promoter tended to have a prolonged days open compared with those of the other genotypes of TNFα polymorphisms. In metabolic function-related factors, ovulatory and anovulatory cows had a different distribution for alleles of the growth hormone receptor, but there were no significant differences in genotype and allele frequency of insulin-like growth factor-I polymorphism. No significant relationships were found between ovarian function after parturition and polymorphisms for reproduction-related genes. In conclusion, polymorphisms of TNFα gene both in exon and promoter regions have a strong association with the early first ovulation within 3 weeks after parturition in the high-producing dairy cow. Taken together, polymorphisms of TNFα gene could be strongly related to early first ovulation after parturition, thus being an effective tool of selection for improving reproductive performance in the high-producing dairy cow.