| Summary: | The objective of this study was to analyze interferon-stimulated genes (<i>ISGs</i>) and interferon tau (<i>IFNt</i>) gene expression in peripheral blood leukocytes during the peri-implantation period and until 40 days of pregnancy in buffalo cows. Relationships were also examined between the expression of <i>ISGs</i> and <i>IFNt</i> and pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) peripheral plasma concentration. Buffalo cows were synchronized and artificially inseminated (d 0). Blood samples were collected on days 0, 18, 28 and 40 after artificial insemination (AI) for peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) isolation and PAGs radioimmunoassay analysis. The study was carried out on 21 buffalo cows divided ex post into Pregnant (<i>n</i> = 12) and Non-pregnant (<i>n</i> = 9) groups. Steady state levels of <i>OAS1</i>, <i>MX2</i>, <i>ISG15</i> and <i>IFNt</i> mRNA were measured by RT-qPCR and their estimated marginal means (<i>p</i> < 0.01 for all) were higher in pregnant than non-pregnant buffaloes, both in PBMCs and PMNs. In PBMCs, pairwise comparisons showed that <i>OAS1</i> and <i>MX2</i> expressions differed between pregnant and non-pregnant buffaloes on all the days of observation (<i>p</i> < 0.001), while significant differences in <i>ISG15</i> and <i>IFNt</i> started from day 28 post-AI (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In PMNs, <i>ISG15</i> expression differed between groups only at days 18 and 28 (<i>p</i> < 0.001), while comparisons were always significant for <i>IFNt</i> (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The expression of all genes, except <i>ISG15</i> as determined in PMNs, was positively associated with PAGs plasma concentrations (<i>p</i> < 0.05). This work showed a significant increase in <i>ISGs</i> and <i>IFNt</i> expressions in PBMCs and PMNs in buffalo during the peri-implantation period and early pregnancy, and their correlation with PAGs plasma concentration.
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