In situ oviduct and uterine pH in cattle

Knowledge of oviduct and uterine pH in cattle is lacking mainly because of the difficulty of accessing these reproductive tissues, which for the oviduct at least necessitates anesthesia. Because halothane anesthesia is known to depress respiratory function and thus increase blood CO2 and decrease pH, oviduct and uterine pH was measured both in the presence and absence of halothane. Using short-term anesthesia with thiopentone only, oviduct pH was measured on days 2-4 of the estrous cycle and uterine pH on days 6 and 8; there was no significant effect of day of the cycle but oviduct pH (7.60 +/- 0.010) was greater (P < 0.001) than uterine pH (6.96 +/- 0.009). Oviduct pH was higher (P < 0.001) and uterine pH lower (P < 0.001) than venous blood pH (7.41 +/- 0.007). Using thiopentone/halothane anesthesia, oviduct pH was measured on days 0, 2, 3, 4 and 6, and uterine pH on days 6, 8 and 14; there was no effect of day of cycle but oviduct pH values were generally higher than uterine values and significantly so (P < 0.001) on day 6 where direct comparison was possible. To our knowledge these are the first published in situ measurements of oviduct pH in cattle. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.