Microbial Prevalence and Antimicrobial Sensitivity in Equine Endometritis in Field Conditions

• Published in: Animals (Basel) 2021-05, Vol.11 (5), p.1476
• Main Authors: Díaz-Bertrana, María Luisa, Deleuze, Stefan, Pitti Rios, Lidia, Yeste, Marc, Morales Fariña, Inmaculada, Rivera del Alamo, Maria Montserrat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amides; Amikacin; Antibiotics; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Apramycin; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Biopsy; Cefoxitin; Cellular biology; Cephaloridine; Cervix; Culture; Cytology; E coli; early estrus; Endometritis; Endometrium; Epidemiology; equine endometritis; Escherichia coli; Fertility; Gentamicin; Gram-negative bacteria; Identification; Infertility; Laboratories; microbiologic study; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Neutrophils; Penicillin; Preventive medicine; Reproductive failure; Sensitivity analysis; sensitivity test; Staphylococcus; Streptococcus; Uterus; Vagina; β-Lactam antibiotics
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani11051476

Endometritis is one of the main causes of infertility in mares. In the present study, 363 mares with a history of repetitive infertility, and positive endometrial cytology and/or vaginal discharge were included. An endometrial swab for microbiological purposes plus sensitivity test was obtained from each mare. A positive culture was obtained in 89% of mares. The main isolated genera were Staphylococcus (25.1%), Streptococcus (18.2%), Escherichia (17.3%) and Pseudomonas (12.1%). With regard to species, the most isolated microorganism was Escherichia coli (17.3%), Staphylococcus spp. (15.6%) and Streptococcus spp. (13.5%). Sensitivity tests showed that the most efficient antimicrobial was amikacin (57.3% of cultures), followed by cefoxitin (48.6%) and gentamicin (48.3%). When sensitivity test was analyzed in terms of Gram+ and Gram– bacteria, Gram+ were highly resistant to cephaloridine (77.3% of cultures), apramycin (70.8%) and penicillin (62.3%), whereas Gram– were highly resistant to penicillin (85.8%), followed by cephaloridine (78.9%). In conclusion, the present study shows the most prevalent microorganisms isolated from equine endometritis, which were found to be resistant to β-lactam antimicrobials. Likewise, these results highlight the significance of performing microbiological analyses as well as sensitivity tests prior to applying an antimicrobial therapy.