{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T08:26:59Z","timestamp":1771489619634,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,29]],"date-time":"2022-06-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1656460800000},"content-version":"am","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005416","name":"Research Council of Norway","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NFR 272338 \/ E50"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NFR 272338 \/ E50"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005416","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001604","name":"Teagasc","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RMIS 0299"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RMIS 0299"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001604","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010663","name":"H2020 European Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["16\/RD\/SusAn\/ERA-NET"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["16\/RD\/SusAn\/ERA-NET"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010663","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>Worldwide, cervical artificial insemination using frozen\u2013thawed semen yields low pregnancy rates. The only exception to this is in Norway, where vaginal insemination with frozen\u2013thawed semen yields pregnancy rates in excess of 60% and which has been attributed to the specific ewe breed used. Our previous work demonstrated differences in cervical gene expression at the follicular phase of the estrous cycle in ewe breeds with known differences in pregnancy rates. In this study, we characterized the cervical transcriptome of the same ewe breeds [Suffolk, Belclare, Fur, and Norwegian White Sheep (NWS)] during the luteal phase, as an optimal environment at the luteal phase could better prepare the cervix for sperm migration through the cervix at the subsequent follicular phase. High-quality RNA extracted from postmortem cervical tissue was analyzed by RNA sequencing. After stringent filtering, 1051, 1924, and 611 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in the low-fertility Suffolk breed compared with Belclare, Fur, and NWS, respectively. Gene ontology analysis identified increased humoral adaptive immune response pathways in Suffolk. Increased expression of multiple immune genes supports the presence of an active immune response in the cervix of Suffolk ewes, which differentiates them significantly from the other three ewe breeds. Inflammatory pathways were upregulated in the Suffolk, resulting in higher expression of the potent pro-inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines indicate unresolved inflammation in the cervix of the low-fertility Suffolk breed that could contribute to reduced cervical sperm transport in the next follicular phase.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/biolre\/ioac130","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,29]],"date-time":"2022-06-29T12:09:39Z","timestamp":1656504579000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Cervical immune activation during the luteal phase may compromise subsequent trans-cervical ram sperm transport"],"prefix":"10.1093","author":[{"given":"Laura","family":"Abril-Parre\u00f1o","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Animal Reproduction , Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Biomaterials Research Cluster, Bernal Institute, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anette Kristine","family":"Krogen\u00e6s","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences , Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, \u00c5s, Norway"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xavier","family":"Druart","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UMR-PRC , INRA-85, Universit\u00e9 de Tours, IFCE, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Nouzilly, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Cormican","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Animal and Bioscience Research Department , Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Grange, Ireland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sean","family":"Fair","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Animal Reproduction , Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Biomaterials Research Cluster, Bernal Institute, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kieran G","family":"Meade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Agriculture and Food Science , University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"2022071901483051400_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"359","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anireprosci.2003.12.014","article-title":"Fertility in the ewe following cervical insemination with fresh or frozen-thawed semen at a natural or synchronised oestrus","volume":"84","author":"Donovan","year":"2004","journal-title":"Anim Reprod Sci"},{"key":"2022071901483051400_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"301","DOI":"10.1016\/0378-4320(86)90005-9","article-title":"Artificial insemination of ewes with frozen-thawed semen at a synchronized oestrus. 1. 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