Abstract
BACKGROUND: Endometritis is a prevalent and challenging condition that affects livestock, and its effective treatment is the use of intrauterine antibiotics. Antibiotic use may lead to negative consequences, including residue in tissues and the emergence of antibiotic resistance. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic potential of ozonated bidistilled water in the treatment of Escherichia coli-induced endometritis in rat models, comparing it to conventional antibiotic treatment. METHODS: A total of 21 female Wistar Albino rats were used for this study. E. coli from the uterus of cows with endometritis at a concentration of 1.0 × 10(9) cfu/mL inoculated into rat uteruses. After inoculation, it was confirmed macroscopically that experimental endometritis was induced in all individuals. And, the rats with endometritis were randomly divided into three groups treated with intrauterine bidistilled water enriched with ozone, antibiotics and 0.9% NaCl. The uterine tissues were examined histopathologically. RESULTS: In the semiquantitative analyses, significantly lower histopathological scores were observed for both the bidistilled water enriched with ozone and antibiotic-treated endometritis groups compared to the control group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Ozone-enriched bidistilled water can be used in the treatment of experimentally induced endometritis in rats, and can provide effective microbiological and histopathological improvement. Further studies involving larger populations of different species are needed to determine the medical suitability of this new treatment.