Evidence mapPaperPMID 40470844Full record

ArticleReproduction (Cambridge, England)2025

Divergence in the sow vaginal microbiota is associated with fertility.

Lauren Fletcher, Xiaoshu Zhan, Yashu Song, Julang Li

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Reproduction (Cambridge, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Lauren FletcherDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0009-0007-2364-561X
Xiaoshu ZhanDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Yashu SongDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Julang LiDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-5794-7727

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In brief: Vaginal microbiota composition influences female fertility, however it has not been studied for measuring fertility level in female pigs. This study reveals significant vaginal microbiota composition differences between high reproductive performance and infertile sows, and demonstrates that the vaginal microbiota has promise for improving female pig selection using machine learning modeling. Abstract: There is a need for reliable and effective biomarkers of female fertility and reproductive potential in the pork industry, as current selection protocols are not keeping up with the rate of improvement for other production-related traits. This study aimed to investigate the vaginal microbiota composition between sows of differing fertility status and identify candidate vaginal microbiota biomarkers of sow fertility. The vaginal microbiota of high reproductive performance sows (HRP, n = 52) with number of piglets born alive ≥13 and infertile sows (INF, n = 23), that remained nonpregnant after two consecutive rounds of artificial insemination, were investigated. Sequencing results revealed significantly different (P < 0.05) beta diversity at the genus level between HRP and INF vaginal microbiota communities. Accordingly, the composition of the vaginal microbiota diverged between HRP and INF sows, with INF sows having increased (P < 0.05) relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae XPB1014 group and HRP sows having increased (P < 0.05) relative abundance of Aerococcus and Staphylococcus at the genus level. Forty-two genera were selected as candidate biomarkers of sow fertility via partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and recursive feature elimination. The support-vector machine model classified sow fertility with 93.3% accuracy, supporting potential industry application to improve upon current methods for selection and recruitment in the breeding herd. Future investigations should validate the candidate vaginal microbiota biomarkers in a large, independent population of sows and gilts to evaluate their application for predicting future reproductive performance and assess their true industry applicability.

Indexed as

FertilityInfertility, FemaleMicrobiotaVaginaAnimalsFemalePregnancySwinebreeding herdfertilitymachine learningswinevaginal microbiota

Identifiers

PMID40470844
PMCPMC12177788

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.