LEUKOCYTES & PHAGOCYTES
LEUKOCYTES & PHAGOCYTES AND THE DIE TEST
What are leukocytes/WBCs? http://www.merckvetmanual.com/ The function of white blood cells (also called leukocytes) is to defend the body against infection. There are 2 main types of white blood cells formed in the bone marrow: phagocytes and lymphocytes. What are Phagocytes and Phagocytosis?
Phagocytes (from the Greek word meaning “to eat”) are cells in the bloodstream and tissues that surroundand consume foreign particles, cell waste material, and bacteria. Their main function is to defend against invading microorganisms by surrounding and destroying them. Phagocytosis is the process by which white blood cells, known as phagocytes, engulf and digest cells – thereby destroying them. Therefore, phagocytosis is one of the ways by which the immune system can protect the body from infection.
Why should you care, and how do CSIPCO’s catheters help you avoid them?
Shortly after semen enters the uterus following cervical or normal PCAI inseminations, leukocytes are released into the sow’s or gilt’s reproductive tract to cleanse, and/or remove the foreign material. This is the animal’s natural defense mechanism and there is nothing you can do to prevent it from taking place. That said, CSIPCO’s PCAI (AMG Series and BioFlo) catheters have the unique ability to inject semen directly to, or extremely close to the utero tubal junction (UTJ) effectively bypassing these two attacks.
When using cervical catheters, or PCAI catheters that place semen in the uterus, it can take 2-10 hours for the genetic material to travel up the horns before it reaches the UTJ. This “death march” as some call it, is where the semen is attacked by the white blood cells and effectively consumed or destroyed. The small amounts of semen that make it into the UTJ have been weakened, and lose some of their potency during this travel. On the other hand, semen injected directly to the UTJ using BioFlo or the AMG Series catheters, arrive to the UTJ in pristine condition, strong and healthy, since they have not undergone these two events before reaching the safety of the UTJ where these attacks no longer occur.
Immediately below is a video and pictures of AMG and BioFlo’s semen distribution. The animal was serviced with 80 ml and culled immediately, thereby preventing forward travel of the semen by the animal’s contractions. The delivery of dye was solely due to the injection process allowed by our unique catheter technologies. We strongly feel 80 ml is the proper volume to use with our hydraulic based catheters, and you will see why further down this page… The importance of our injection methods should be clear in the pictures. BioFlo and AMG provide full distribution to the UTJ instantly and your genetic material will remain strong and viable when stored in the safe zone of the UTJ.
All these experiments were conducted at Wens’ Group nucleus farms. The Wens Group is China’s largest pig producer with approximately 1,000,000 sows. The next pictures represent “traditional” PCAI catheters, still using 80 ml. Please note the semen distribution only travels partially up the horns, and during the rest of its journey the semen will undergo both attacks mentioned above. 99% of the semen will die during this journey, and this will affect your breeding performance. Normal PCAI catheters simply cannot inject semen like our products can, because the hard “barbed” tips inserted into the cannula restrict the flow and most of the time divert the semen sideways… BioFlo offers 636% greater flow capacity compared to what you are probably using!
Below again are pictures using a cervical catheter. Ins this case, contractions draw the semen through the cervix into the uterus, and eventually up the horns to the UTJ. PCAI clearly outperforms cervcal inseminations. Note the backflow that came out of this animal using traditional catheters, and the minimal penetration into the horns…
Lastly, below are pictures of a gilt. We tried using a smaller volume 40 ml; but as you can see, even with a small reproductive tract, a perfect insemination with zero backflow, there was not enough volume to push the semen to the UTJ. This is why we recommend a full 80 ml service.
