Fertility following intrauterine administration of Tinidazole and Ciprofloxacin combination in repeat breeding crossbred cows

Abstract

It is well established that bovine uterus provides an environment, which is conducive for the growth of both aerobes and
anaerobes that act synergistically to cause bacterial endometritis. Therefore, treatment strategies demand that drugs effective
against both aerobes and anaerobes should be used. In the present study 15 repeat breeding cross bred cows having uterine infection
were selected on the basis of aerobic and /or anaerobic bacterial growth in the uterine swabs. All these cows were treated with
tinidazole and ciprofloxacin combination for 3 consecutive days. At subsequent oestrus uterine swabs were again taken and cultured
for both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and artificial insemination was done at the same oestrus. Both aerobic and anaerobic infection
were cleared completely in 9 cows while the clearance was partial in 5 cows i.e. elimination of either aerobes or anaerobes after
treatment. One cow did not respond to treatment in terms of clearance of infection. Overall, six (40%) cows became pregnant within
3 inseminations following the treatment, of them 5 cows belonged to totally cleared group. First service pregnancy was achieved in
only 2 cows that had sterile uterine environment after the treatment. Bacteriological cure rate after treatment was better in case of
obligate anaerobes (90%) as compared to aerobes (67%). Also treatment was not effective in clearing E. coli infection. To conclude,
though ciprofloxacin and tinidazole combination was effective against mixed infection of aerobes and anaerobes in vitro, results in
terms of pregnancy establishment were not encouraging.