The present study was conducted in a goat farm for pregnancy diagnosis by using vaginal cytology and B-mode real time ultrasound using 5 MHz probe by transabdominal method. Seventeen pregnant does were used for this study. The objective of the study was to determine the earliest day of pregnancy and describe the chronological characteristics of pregnancy from day 22 to day 40 for vaginal cytology and day 25 to day 60 for ultrasonography of gestation. The differences among the average percentage of cell value in different age of pregnancy were significant (p < 0.05). The average percentage of intermediate cells (81.12%) was also significantly (p < 0.05) higher than superficial (9.41%), keratinized (7.10%) and neutrophil (2.61%) on 22-40th days of pregnancy. In case of real time B-mode ultrasonography, the gestational sac was observed only in three does out of seventeen (17.6 %) at 25-30 days whereas the placentomes and heart beat of the foetus were first detected at 31-35 days in six does (35.3%). The foetal leg buds were first visualized at 36-40 days in four does (23.5%) whereas the foetal vertebral column was first observed at 36-40 days of gestation in only three does (17.6%). In conclusion, vaginal cytology and trans-abdominal ultrasonography can be used for detection of early pregnancy in does.

Assays for detecting pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) levels in the blood of pregnant cattle have been developed and commercialized to determine pregnancy status. This study was conducted to determine the accuracy of a PAG-based ELISA test for pregnancy detection in Hanwoo. The anticoagulated treated whole blood was sampled from 595 Hanwoo that were 28-71 d (mean 49) and 85-128 d (mean 106) after artificial insemination. At the 2nd blood collection time, a transrectal palpation test was used as the standard for pregnancy diagnosis. For PAGs and the transrectal palpation test (n=595), the sensitivity was 98.4% (pregnancy, 481/489), the specificity was 100% (open, 106/106), and the accuracy was 98.7% (pregnancy+open, 587/595). In conclusion, the rapid PAG-based ELISA pregnancy test was highly sensitive and specific for pregnancy detection in Hanwoo.

High reproductive efficiency is a prerequisite for dairy animals in order to optimize dairy production. An accurate and early pregnancy diagnosis is a crucial aspect for better reproductive management in livestock. The indigenous, visual and clinical methods have various limitations including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, later stages of applicability and requires highly skilled manpower. This hurdles the researchers to ensue further research on developing novel early pregnancy diagnostics for dairy animals. However, the advantage of molecular techniques like proteomics has given a new hope to look for pregnancy biomarkers in animal research. In this study, we assayed the pregnancy-associated glycoprotein (PAG) levels using anti-bPAG antibody. Serum plasma samples were collected 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after insemination. Cattle diagnosed pregnant with singleton are used for this experiment in which blood samples were collected. The plasma PAG level is gradually increased after insemination to until 60 days and drastically decreased after that. The PAG level was approximately 2-fold greater during 30 days compared with 60 days. These results concluded to validate our other pregnancy diagnosis methods including circulating microRNA and cell free DNA concentration (data not shown). Despite this proteomic approach, validating all other molecular technique results may give the exact time for early pregnancy diagnosis.

Early diagnoses of pregnancy for animal such as swine and bovine is extremely important to increase income of a farmhouse and for the management of farm. For the development of immunoasaay system of pregnancy in swine, we report a competitive heterologous enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the direct measurement of oestrone sulfate (E1S) in diluted urine using anti-E1G (glucuronide) monoclonal antibody which cross react with E1S. The principle of assay was based on the typical solid-phase competitive ELISA methods using E1G-HRP (horseradish peroxidase) as a tracer and E1S for standard. The method had a reasonable sensitivity for the detection of E1S with 0.15 ng/ml as a detection limit. The intra-assay and inter-assay precisions were raging coefficient of from 8.50～9.67% and 8.50～9.87%, respectively, which were quite acceptable. In a field trial with a group 37 sows (18 non-pregnancy and 19 pregnancy sows) after day 29～30 post service, the concentration of E1S were determined to be below 30 ng/ml in all non-pregnancy group and over 48 ng/ml in pregnancy group except one sample. The method described here, heterologous ELISA for the measurement of E1S in urine is good enough for monitoring the early pregnancy test of swine.

The aims of these study were to diagnose early pregnancy and reproductive disorders by using progesterone concentration and ultrasonography. The measurement of blood progesterone (P) concentration was conducted to diagnose pregnancy and to detect corpus luteum (CL) or evaluate disorder of CLs. As a result, the incidence rates of reproductive disorders were as follows : SH and EED (41.9%), inacitve ovaries (32.6%), follicullar cyst (9.3%), PCL (7.0%), endometritis (4.7%), pyometra (2.3%) and luteal cyst (2.3%). 61 Cows having Pconcentration 1.0 ng/ml(at the insemination) were increased to 1.0 ng/ml 6day after insemination. 50 cows among 61 cows were diagnosed pregnant. 8 cows among 13 HanWoos having Pconcentration 1.0 ng/ml at the insemination and 1.0 ng/mnl 6 day after insemination had non-ovulatory estrus and the others had Pconcentration 1.0 ng/ml at the insemination and 1.0 ng/ml 6 day after insemination, which was the error of estrus detection. All 13 cows were diagnosed non-pregnant. 47 cows diagnosed pregnant after insemination of Pconcentration 3.0 ng/ml were examined by ultrasonography at 30 day post-insemination. As a result, 41 cows were diagnosed pregnant (87.2%) but 14 cows having Pconcentration 3.0 ng/ml at 21 day after insemination was diagnosed to non-pregnancy. Calving intervals by surveying 100 cows were as follows 11~12 months (20%), 12~13 months (36%), 13~14 months (19%), 14 months (25%), respectively. In conclusion, hormone and ultrasonography help to detect reproductive disorders exactly and diagnose early pregnancy. This study suggest that diagnosis of early pregnancy and reproductive disorder by blood Pconcentration and ultrasonography improve reproduction management of HanWoo.

Real time B-mode ultrasound was used to detect the early conceptus in 187 Korean native cattles between days 10 and 60 after last insemination. The ultrasound diagnostic findings were systemically confirmed by palpation per rectum after the 60th day of last insemination. The embryonic vesicle and the embryo proper within the veside were first visible on mean day fl and 23, respectively. The heartbeat of the embryo proper could be detected on day 26, and the limb buds, placentomes, amnion, fetal movement, umbilical cord, optic area and split hooves were first visible on day 33, 34, 34, 44.5, 45, 32 and 48, respectively. The mean length of embryo proper was 3.8mm on day 23 which later increased to 56. 6rnrn on day 60. When ultrasound was used to detect the conceptus between days 20 and 30 after insemination and palpation per rectum after the 60th day of insemination, the accuracy rates of pregnancy detection by ultrasound scanning at days 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 were 44.4, 69.2, 78.6, 87.5, 90.0, 93.3%. In summary, the early pregnancy diagnosis of Korean native cattle with ultrasound appears high accuracy rates. It is considered that ultrasound can be used in veterinary practice well.