Endometrial Toll-Like Receptors During the Reproductive Cycle and Uterine Infection in the Cow and Buffalo

Abstract

Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which come under the class of pattern recognition receptors, mediate innate immune responses upon binding to the pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). TLRs are present in a wide variety of tissues including the endometrium. Expression and regulation of endometrial TLR during the early postpartum period is important in the clearance of uterine infections in the bovine. This chapter updates the available evidence on the expression pattern of TLR in the endometrium, regulation by phases of the estrous cycle, and their significance in the postpartum clinical endometritis and subclinical endometritis.