PAG profiles in postpartum dairy cows and newborn calves

In ruminants, pregnancy associated glycoproteins (PAG), synthesized in the outer layers of the trophoblast, enter the maternal bloodstream. In this study, blood samples from cows in the postpartum period, pregnant cows and calves were collected to determine 1) the clearance rate of PAG, 2) the accuracy of PAG measurements used for pregnancy diagnosis and 3) PAG concentrations and clearance rate in newborn calves. A curvilinear decline in PAG was found with increasing days from calving. Between day 70–80 pp 3 out of 11 samples (27%) had PAG concentrations > 4 ng/ml plasma. A cut-off value of 4 ng/ml was found to give the best accuracy for pregnancy diagnosis 28–36 days after service (n ¼58: sensitivity¼0.97; specificity ¼1.0). PAG concentrations in newborn calves (n¼10) varied between 78–880 ng/ml, declining with increasing age in a curvilinear pattern to < 1 ng/ml between 20–40 days pp. In two male twin calves PAG concentrations were 880 and 101 ng/ml, respectively, at one day of age. We conclude: 1) 4 ng PAG /ml provides the best cut-off value for pregnancy diagnosis. 2) Cows serviced before 60 days pp can produce false positive pregnancy diagnoses due to PAG originating from the previous pregnancy. 3) High PAG concentrations can be found in newborn calves.