calcium and magnesium concentrations in uterine fluid and blood serum during the estrous cycle in the bovine

to investigate uterine and serum ca++ and mg++ variations during the estrous cycle in the bovine, 66 genital tracts and blood samples were collected from urmia abattoir, urmia, iran. the phase of the estrous cycle was determined by examination of the structures present on ovaries and uterine tonicity. of the collected samples, 17 were pro-estrus, 12 estrus, 14 metestrus and 23 diestrus. the uterine fluid was collected by gentle scraping of the uterine mucosa with a curette. the mean ± sem concentration of serum ca++ in pro-estrus, estrus, metestrus and diestrus was 5.77 ± 0.69, 8.87 ± 1.83, 10.95 ± 1.52, 11.09 ± 1.08 mg dl-1, and the mean concentration of uterine fluid ca++ was 4.40 ± 0.72, 3.15 ± 0.67, 5.89 ± 0.88, 8.63 ± 0.97 mg dl-1, respectively. the mean concentration of serum mg++ in pro-estrus, estrus, metestrus and diestrus was 3.53 ± 0.30, 4.20 ± 0.52, 3.49 ± 0.38, 3.39 ± 0.29 mg dl-1, and mean concentration of uterine fluid mg++ was 5.27 ± 0.42, 4.92 ± 0.60, 5.56 ± 0.30, 5.88 ± 0.36 mg dl-1, respectively. the serum and uterine fluid ca++ in pro-estrus were significantly different from those of the metestrus and diestrus. in all stages of estrous cycle the mean concentration of serum ca++ was higher than that in the uterine fluid. the difference between serum and uterine fluid ca++ in estrus, metestrus and diestrus was significant. there was no significant difference between serum mg++ content nor was it different from uterine fluid mg++ content at any stages of estrous cycle. in all stages of estrous cycle the uterine fluid mg++ was higher than that of the serum. these results suggest that during the estrous cycle in the cow, ca++ is passively secreted in uterine fluids and is mostly dependent on blood serum ca++ variations but mg++ is secreted independently and does not follow variations in the serum concentrations.