Reproduction and Fertility

Reproduction and Fertility is heading to SSR 2025 in Washington D.C.! 🇺🇸 Visit our booth to learn about publishing with us, chat with the team, and explore our latest Special Collections. We’re there to answer all your questions - see you there!

📢 We’re recruiting Early Career Associate Editors for Reproduction and Fertility! Open to basic, non-clinical scientists and also for clinicians-in-training or embryologists working in the area of clinical reproduction and fertility. For more info: srf-reproduction.org/early-career-a…)

Which method leads to better outcomes in #FrozenEmbryoTransfer (FET) - natural or artificial cycle? New research by Romana Dmitrovic et al. suggests natural cycle FET may offer higher live birth rates, though other factors also play a role. 🔗doi.org/10.1530/RAF-24…

🌟New review in our Fertility Care in LMICs special collection! Why do many patients in South Africa abandon fertility treatment? Gerhardus Boshoff, Willem Ombelet and Carin Huyser present a public-sector case study uncovering systemic access barriers. 🔗 doi.org/10.1530/RAF-24…

🌟We are proud to announce that Reproduction and Fertility's 2024 Impact Factor has risen to 3.4! This increase reflects the growing recognition of the high-quality research published in the journal - thank you to our authors, reviewers, and editors for making this possible.

Where should we host our next #RaFJC Journal Club? 📢Vote and share your thoughts!

🎉 That’s a wrap on this #RaFJC journal club! Huge thanks to everyone who read, shared, voted, and engaged in debate. 📌 Missed something? Catch up via #RaFJC 🔜 Stay tuned for our next journal club - coming soon! #Microbiome #Piglet

💬 What insight from today's #RaFJC are you taking into your work? 🟣 Drop your takeaways 🟢 Ask a question 🟡 Share your next steps 🔁 Let's keep this thread going! #Microbiome #Piglet

🧠 The study opens up some exciting possibilities for enhancing #Piglet health! Which of these strategies would you prioritise?👇 🔘 Modulate sow vaginal flora 🔘 Enrich colostrum with probiotics 🔘 Re-seed piglets after day 3 🔘 Improve crate hygiene #RaFJC #Microbiome

Other suggestions? 🔁 D10 resembles D0 💪 Maternal imprinting is resilient 🧠 The idea of a "core microbiome" taking shape by day 10 is intriguing for intervention planning The main conclusion? Despite the chaos on D3, #Piglets' #Microbiomes "reset" #RaFJC

🙌 This study challenges assumptions about early-life seeding 💥 Crate disinfection and clean environments? It had no significant impact on gut microbiota colonisation 🧪 It's not where they are born, but how and from whom #RaFJC #Microbiome #Piglet

Key findings 🧬 The #Birthcanal #Microbiome –rich in #Lactobacillus– seeded the #Piglet gastrointestinal tract. 👍 Could be used as a mirror of human vaginal delivery ❌ Colostrum had little impact. 💡 Could interventions in the dam's vaginal flora boost offspring health? #RaFJC

🧬 Working on similar models or study designs? Share your insights - check out the options and join the conversation! 🐷💬 🔘 Birth canal 🔘 Colostrum 🔘 Farrowing crate 🔘 Environmental contamination #RaFJC #Piglet

By weaning (day 21), the #Piglet #Microbiome is more predictable. ➡️ The day 10 profile explains almost 60% of the variation. ❌ Environmental factors (crate, colostrum) contribute little. Microbial "memory" builds postnatally. #RaFJC 📊 See the results in Table 5!

Despite the microbial chaos on day 3, the #Piglet #Microbiome begins stabilizing by day 10. 🔁 The day 0 microbiome still explains 15.6% of the variation at day 10 🌸 #BirthCanal still matters: 6.5% of the variation #RaFJC 📊 See the results in Table 4!

Day 3 = #Microbiome mayhem. 🦠 Low diversity 🧬 Dominated by Escherichia & Clostridium 🩺 Markers of dysbiosis, but #Piglets weren’t sick This window may be key for intervention or risk. #RaFJC 📊 Check Figure 2 to see the relative abundance of genera

The #Piglet #Microbiome shifts drastically by day 3: 🔺Proteobacteria dominate 🔻Beneficial genera like #Lactobacillus & Ruminococcus drop 🔺Escherichia spikes (38%) 🦠 Early instability is real and measurable. #RaFJC 📊 See Figure 1 to see the relative abundance at each stage!

By day 0 (before suckling), 51.6% of the #Piglet gut #Microbiome is explained by the #BirthCanal alone 👉 Environmental sources like the farrowing crate? Just 2.1% Maternal influence > environment at birth #RaFJC 📊 Check Table 2 to see the multiple regression analysis

📊 Pre-analysis: 👉Microbes <2% ⇒ grouped as ‘Other’ 👉Dam rectum data excluded (r = 0.99 w/ crate) 📈 Analysis: 👉PROC GLM for group comparisons 👉PROC REG (stepwise) for age modeling Significance: P ≤ 0.05; trend: 0.05–0.10 #Piglet #Microbiome #RaFJC

How did they sample? 🧼 Crates were sampled before and after gilt housing. 🩸 #BirthCanal samples were collected ~1h after farrowing started. 🥛 Colostrum was pooled from multiple teats. 💡 Day 0 samples = taken before suckling = no dietary bias. #RaFJC #Microbiome