Advances in Veterinary Reproduction and Embryonic Development

A special issue of Veterinary Sciences (ISSN 2306-7381).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2025) | Viewed by 3563

Special Issue Editors

College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: veterinary reproduction; veterinary embriology; embryonic development

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Guest Editor
College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: animal reproduction; mitochondria; epigenetic regulation of embryonic development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, female livestock infertility, triggered by ovulation disorders and abnormal termination of early pregnancy, has seriously impacted the effective breeding of livestock. Therefore, according to the requirements of Veterinary Sciences, I hope to organize a Special Issue mainly focused on ovulation disorders and the abnormal termination of early pregnancy in large livestock, especially in cattle and pigs. I hope to summarize the advancements in reproductive disorders in livestock and therapeutic mechanisms with research from experts in related fields.

This Special Issue will contain two parts. First, it will collect some of the latest research on ovulation-regulation mechanisms in cattle and pigs. In addition, it will also invite clinical treatment experts to provide reviews on the treatment principles and methods for ovulation disorders, as well as treatment cases and treatment reports. Specifically, JIVET (juvenile in vitro embryo transfer) has recently been a popular technology in China, but the superovulating follicles of lambs or calves cannot mature in vivo and can only be cultured in vitro. Attempts to understand how we can promote the effective ovulation of superovulating follicles in vivo would be a very attractive and indispensable topic in this Special Issue, and I hope to publish research on this.

Secondly, this Special Issue will focus on the phenomenon of the abnormal termination of early pregnancy. In this field, we are mainly concerned with the phenomenon in gene-edited and cloned animals. Therefore, I hope to receive research in this field as well as comprehensive reviews. Review articles should comprehensively elaborate the molecular mechanism causing the abnormal termination of early pregnancy in the cloning process of gene-edited animals and put forward suggestions for improvement. In addition to the topics mentioned above, some infectious diseases (genetic diseases) and nutritional abnormalities can also lead to the termination of early embryo development and, of course, some unmentioned reasons can also lead to early pregnancy termination. I hope to publish related articles that actively participate in this discussion.

I hope that this Special Issue will further stimulate collaboration between scientists engaged in all aspects of reproductive disorders in livestock and therapeutic mechanisms.

Dr. Anmin Lei
Dr. Xiaoxu Chen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • cattle
  • pigs
  • ovulation disorders
  • abnormal termination
  • clinical treatment
  • JIVET
  • gene-edited animals

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 8139 KB  
Article
Effect of Maternal Administration with All-Trans Retinoic Acid on Lungs of Neonatal Pigs
by Xianghao Xiao, Haimei Zhou, Dehai He, Panting Wei, Yuting Zhu, Wenchen Sun, Shaobin Hao, Huadong Wu, Wei Lu and Yuyong He
Vet. Sci. 2025, 12(12), 1132; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12121132 - 28 Nov 2025
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Abstract
(1) Background: How to reduce respiratory diseases in animals is a matter of great concern, and this study aimed to investigate the effect of maternal administration with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on the lung health of neonatal pigs. (2) Methods: Fifteen sows were [...] Read more.
(1) Background: How to reduce respiratory diseases in animals is a matter of great concern, and this study aimed to investigate the effect of maternal administration with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on the lung health of neonatal pigs. (2) Methods: Fifteen sows were randomly allotted to one of five ATRA groups (0, 4, 8, 16, and 32 mg/kg diet), respectively; on average, from days 12 to 95 after insemination, lung samples of neonatal pigs were harvested for HE staining, 16S DNA sequencing, and transcriptomic analysis. (3) Results: Compared to neonatal pigs from the ATRA0 group, neonatal pigs from the ATRA4 group had an increased (p > 0.05) alveolar number and the thinner (p < 0.05) alveolar septum, higher (p < 0.05) abundance of Akkermansia and unidentified_Mitochondria, and a lower (p < 0.05) abundance of Acinetobacter, Cutibacterium, Stenotrophomonas, Enterobacter, Saccharomonospora, and Alistipes in the lungs. Maternal supplementation of ATRA at 4 mg/kg diet had the benefits of reducing pathogen virulence and drug resistance, but it poses the risk of increasing the resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. In addition, it reduced (p < 0.05) the virulence, drug resistance, and stress tolerant capacity of potential pathogens (Proteobacteria, Acinetobacter, Cupriavidus, and Pseudomonas), enriched the highest number of genes in neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction pathway, and decreased gene expression of CCL11 and IL9 in the asthma pathway. (4) Conclusions: Maternal supplementation of ATRA at 4 mg/kg diet can strengthen the lung health of neonatal pigs by improving alveolar development, decreasing the number and virulence of pathogens, and down-regulating the expression of asthma-related genes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Veterinary Reproduction and Embryonic Development)
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Review

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16 pages, 566 KB  
Review
Allogenic Follicular Fosterage Technology: Problems, Progress and Potential
by Mingming Teng, Mengqi Zhao, Bo Mu and Anmin Lei
Vet. Sci. 2024, 11(6), 276; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11060276 - 17 Jun 2024
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Abstract
The allogeneic follicular fosterage (AFF) technique transfers cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) from pubertal female animals to the dominant follicles of adult female animals for further development, allowing the COCs to further develop in a completely in vivo environment. This article reviews the history of [...] Read more.
The allogeneic follicular fosterage (AFF) technique transfers cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) from pubertal female animals to the dominant follicles of adult female animals for further development, allowing the COCs to further develop in a completely in vivo environment. This article reviews the history of AFF and JIVET and their effects on oocyte and embryo development as well as freezing resistance. Improving the efficiency and reproducibility of AFF technology is crucial to its clinical application. This article discusses factors that affect the success rate of AFF, including differences in specific technical procedures and differences between pubertal and adult follicles. Designing standardized procedures and details to improve the synchronization of donor COCs and recipient follicle maturity and reducing the damage to COCs caused by follicular aspiration may be the direction for improving the success rate of AFF in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Veterinary Reproduction and Embryonic Development)
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