Changes in endometrial histology following enrofloxacin therapy in crossbred cows suffering from endometritis*

Abstract

The histo-pathological changes in endometrium following enrofloxacin therapy were studied in crossbred cows suffering from endometritis. Twelve cows (group A) were treated with intra-uterine enrofloxacin (1 000 mg in 30 ml distilled water) for 3 consecutive days, and 12 cows (group B) were infused with 20 ml of PBS in an identical schedule. Endometrial biopsies were collected prior to treatment and at 72 h after treatment from all the cows for histo-pathological studies. Enrofloxacin treatment of this study caused the histopathological changes in endometritis cows during post– treatment period. The effects were evident by an additional increase of 25% cows showing denuded epithelium at 72 h post-treatment. Further, a poor recovery of cases with pseudostratification with reduced cellular infiltration following antibiotic treatment indicated an adverse effect of enrofloxacin on uterine defense mechanism. On the other hand, infusion of PBS did not cause any such changes in endometrial epithelium of cows under control group. It, however, reduced the number of cases with denuded epithelium with an appreciable increase in the infiltration of mononuclear and PMN cells.
It is concluded that intra-uterine infusion of enrofloxacin may cause changes in endometrial histology and have some adverse effect on uterine defense mechanism in the cows suffering from endometritis.