Effects of a preovulatory administered depot gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist on reproductive hormone levels and pregnancy outcome in gilts
F. Schneider A B and K.-P. Brüssow AA Department of Reproductive Biology, FBN Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals, D-18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
B Corresponding author. Email: falk.schneider@fbn-dummerstorf.de
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 18(8) 857-866 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD06027
Submitted: 29 March 2006 Accepted: 3 September 2006 Published: 22 November 2006
Abstract
The present study aimed to explore the influence of a preovulatory administered depot gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist (GnRHa; Decapeptyl®Depot) on the endocrine parameters and pregnancy outcome of gilts (n = 6). A GnRHa-supported preovulatory luteinising hormone (LH) surge was detected in all treated gilts. LH pulses were abolished completely by depot GnRHa on Day 7 and partly on Day 21 of pregnancy. In this treatment group (n = 6) four gilts were pregnant at slaughter on Day 28. In the control group receiving Gonavet®, a non-formulated GnRHa (n = 6), all pigs showed LH pulses and were pregnant at slaughter on Day 28 of gestation. Mean progesterone concentrations were elevated in controls during the early luteal phase and were similar for both groups during the implantation period. Mean concentration of unoccupied progesterone receptor was significantly higher in uterine myometrium than in endometrium, but without treatment effects. Peripheral estrone sulfate concentrations showed a similar increase in all pregnant gilts on Days 17 and 18, and remained elevated. In summary, treatment with a depot GnRHa for synchronisation of ovulation alters pulsatile LH secretion during early pregnancy in pigs. In general, this alteration seems not to exert an injurious influence on luteal function and, therefore, on embryo and early fetal development.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank W. Köchling (Ferring, Kobenhavn, Danmark) for providing the GnRHa depot formulation and valuable advice. A. F. P. Parlow (UCLA) and S. Raiti (NHPP) as well as J. F. Roser (Davis, CA) are acknowledged for providing LH reagents and the monoclonal antibody against bLH. In addition, we thank V. Tesch for expert animal care and U. Antkewitz, U. Wiedemuth and S. Rodewald for excellent laboratory assistance.
Al-Gubory, K. H. (1999). Absence of regular pulsatile LH secretion during pre- and post-implantation periods in sheep. Eur. J. Endocrinol. 141, 521–525.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Scatchard, G. (1949). The attraction of proteins for small molecules and ions. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 51, 600–672.
Schneider, F. , Bellmann, A. , Becker, F. , Bambang Poernomo, S. , Rehfeldt, C. , Nürnberg, G. , and Kanitz, W. (2002a). Gonadotropin release in periovulatory heifers after GnRH analogs measured by two types of immunoassays. Exp. Clin. Endocrinol. Diabetes 110, 235–245.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Schneider, F. , Kanitz, E. , Gerrard, D. E. , Kuhn, G. , Brüssow, K.-P. , Nürnberg, K. , Fiedler, I. , Nürnberg, G. , Ender, K. , and Rehfeldt, C. (2002b). Administration of recombinant porcine somatotropin (rpST) changes hormone and metabolic status during early pregnancy. Domest. Anim. Endocrinol. 23, 455–474.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Schneider, F. , Brüssow, K.-P. , Kanitz, E. , Otten, W. , and Tuchscherer, A. (2004). Maternal reproductive hormone levels after repeated ACTH application to pregnant gilts. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 81, 313–327.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Schneider, F. , Heleil, B. , Alm, H. , Torner, H. , Becker, F. , Viergutz, T. , Nürnberg, G. , and Kanitz, W. (2006). Endocrine, morphological, and cytological effects of a depot GnRH agonist in bovine. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 92, 9–28.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Shemesh, M. (2001). Actions of gonadotrophins on the uterus. Reproduction 121, 835–842.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Soede, N. M. , Helmond, F. A. , and Kemp, B. (1994). Periovulatory profiles of oestradiol, LH and progesterone in relation to oestrus and embryo mortality in multiparous sows using transrectal ultrasonography to detect ovulation. J. Reprod. Fertil. 101, 633–641.
| PubMed |
Spencer, T. E. , and Bazer, F. W. (2004). Conceptus signals for establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Reprod. Biol. Endocrinol. 2, 49.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Sukjumlong, S. , Dalin, A.-M. , Sahlin, L. , and Persson, E. (2005). Immunohistological studies on the progesterone receptor (PR) in the sow uterus during the oestrous cycle and in inseminated sows at oestrus and early pregnancy. Reproduction 129, 349–359.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Szekeres-Bartho, J. , and Wegmann, T. G. (1996). A progesterone-dependent immunomodulatory protein alters the Th1/Th2 balance. J. Reprod. Immunol. 31, 81–95.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Szekeres-Bartho, J. , Kinsky, R. , and Chaouat, G. (1990). The effect of a progesterone-induced immunologic blocking factor on NK-mediated resorption. Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. 24, 105–107.
| PubMed |
Tast, A. , Love, R. J. , Clarke, I. J. , and Evans, G. (2000). Effects of active and passive gonadotrophin-releasing hormone immunization on recognition and establishment of pregnancy in pigs. Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 12, 277–282.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Thatcher, W. W. , Drost, M. , Savio, J. D. , Macmillan, K. L. , Entwistle, K. W. , Schmitt, E. J. , De la Sota, R. L. , and Morris, G. R. (1993). New clinical uses of GnRH and its analogues in cattle. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 33, 27–49.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Vallet, J. L. , Christenson, R. K. , Trout, W. E. , and Klemcke, H. G. (1998). Conceptus, progesterone, and breed effects on uterine protein secretion in swine. J. Anim. Sci. 76, 2657–2670.
| PubMed |
van de Wiel, D. F. M. , Erkens, J. , Koop, W. , Vos, E. , and van Landeghem, A. A. J. (1981). Periestrous and midluteal time courses of circulating LH, FSH, prolactin, estradiol-17β and progesterone in the domestic pig. Biol. Reprod. 24, 223–233.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
van Rens, B. T. T. M. , Hazeleger, W. , and van der Lende, T. (2000). Periovulatory hormone profiles and components of litter size in gilts with different estrogen receptor (ESR) genotype. Theriogenology 53, 1375–1387.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Virolainen, J. V. , Love, R. J. , Tast, A. , and Peltoniemi, O. A. T. (2003). Effect of a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist on luteinising hormone secretion and early pregnancy in gilts. Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 15, 451–459.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Virolainen, J. V. , Love, R. J. , Tast, A. , and Peltoniemi, O. A. T. (2005). Plasma progesterone concentration depends on sampling site in pigs. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 86, 305–316.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Waberski, D. , Claassen, R. , Hahn, T. , Jungblut, P. W. , Parvizi, N. , Kallweit, E. , and Weitze, K. F. (1997). LH profiles and advancement of ovulation after transcervical infusion of seminal plasma at different stages of oestrus in gilts. J. Reprod. Fertil. 109, 29–34.
| PubMed |
Wegmann, T. G. , Lin, H. , Guilbert, L. , and Mosmann, T. R. (1993). Bidirectional cytokine interactions in the maternal–fetal relationships: is successful pregnancy a TH-2 phenomenon? Immunol. Today 14, 353–356.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Wollenhaupt, K. , Kettler, A. , Brüssow, K.-P. , Schneider, F. , Kanitz, W. , and Einspanier, R. (2001). Regulation of the expression and bioactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor system by estradiol in pig oviduct and endometrium. Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 13, 167–176.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Ziecik, A. J. (2002). Old, new, and the newest concepts of inhibition of luteolysis during early pregnancy in pig. Domest. Anim. Endocrinol. 23, 265–275.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Ziecik, A. J. , Tilton, J. E. , Weigl, R. , and Williams, G. L. (1983). Plasma luteinizing hormone during pregnancy in the pig. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 5, 213–218.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
