Journal of reproduction and fertility. Supplement.
Discontinued
Publisher:
Blackwell Scientific Publications for Journals of Reproduction and Fertility,. Cambridge, UK : Journals of Reproduction and Fertility, Ltd.
Frequency: Irregular
Country: England
Language: English
Author(s):
Society for the Study of Fertility.
Start Year:1966 - 2001
Identifiers
| ISSN: | 0449-3087 (Print) 0449-3087 (Linking) |
| NLM ID: | 0225652 |
| (DNLM): | J37020000(s) |
| (OCoLC): | 01639439 |
| Coden: | JRFSAR |
| LCCN: | sn 82004517 |
| Classification: | W1 JO868KA |
Disappearance of spermatozoa from the ejaculates of geldings. Twenty-three geldings were used to determine changes in seminal characteristics following castration and the effect of frequency of ejaculation on these seminal characteristics. In Exp. 1, semen was collected from 8 geldings every other day after castration until the number of spermatozoa per ejaculate was below 1% of the precastration value. An average of 3 ejaculates was required to reduce the number of spermatozoa below this level. In Exp. 2, 15 stallions were castrated and each stallion was assigned to 1 of 3 groups for seminal collection at 7, 14 or 21 days post-castration. The ejaculates...
Isolation of Klebsiella pneumoniae from the urogenital tract of experimentally infected mares. K. pneumoniae capsule type 68 infused into the uterus of 4 mares was recovered up to 15 weeks after inoculation. The insertion of a tampon for 10 min was more effective than a swab technique in detecting the organism in the uterus. The clitoral fossa and the urethral orifice when sampled by the swab technique were also found to be infected for a comparable period. K. pneumoniae was isolated from the clitoral specimens more often and more consistently than from either urethral or uterine specimens.
Specific PGF-2 alpha binding by the corpus luteum of the pregnant and non-pregnant mare. The binding of prostaglandin (PG) F-2 alpha to corpora lutea (CL) from pregnant and non-pregnant Pony mares was examined. Studies of the rates of association and dissociation indicated that [3H]PGF was bound specifically and reversibly to a luteal cell membrane preparation (MP) that was isolated by high speed (100,000 g) ultracentrifugation. Various PGs and PG metabolites displaced [3H]PGF from the receptors in the following decreasing order: PGF-2 alpha greater than 13, 14-dihydro-PGF-2 alpha = 13,14-dihydro-15-keto PGF-2 alpha greater than PGD-2 greater than PGF-1 alpha = PGE-2 greater than ...
Effect of ovariectomy on pregnancy in mares. Pony mares were bilaterally ovariectomized at different stages of pregnancy between Days 25 and 210. Abortion or fetal resorption occurred within 2 to 6 days after operations in all 14 mares ovariectomized between Days 25 and 45 and after an interval of 10 to 15 days in 9 of 20 other ovariectomized between 50 and 70 days. All 12 mares ovariectomized on either 140 or 210 days carried their foals to normal term. The termination of early pregnancy was preceded by a loss of uterine tone and of a palpable uterine bulge. The mean length of gestation in all mares in which pregnancy was not interrupte...
Interaction of oestradiol and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone on LH release in the mare. Acyclic mare given oestradiol for 3 days to simulate the preovulatory plasma oestradiol surge showed a non-significant 37% decrease in plasma LH during treatment. When GnRH analogue injections were given with oestradiol on Days 1--3, oestradiol had no effect on each GnRH-induced LH increase, but LH increases were more prolonged following subsequent GnRH injections on Days 4--7 when oestradiol was no longer being given. A much greater prolongation of LH release occurred when the course of GnRH injections was commenced after oestradiol treatment ceased; the LH response was almost identical to th...
Plasma biochemistry changes in thoroughbred foals during the first 4 weeks of life. Changes in plasma sodium, potassium, chloride, total carbon dioxide, urea, creatinine, glucose, total bilirubin, iron, total protein, albumin, alkaline phosphatase (AP), aspartate amino transferase (AST), calcium, inorganic phosphorus, cholesterol and triglycerides were studied in 45 Thoroughbred foals 15 min to 28 days after birth. The results were analysed in 3 groups; Group 1 (0--12 h), Group 2 (12--36 h), Group 3 (1--4 weeks). When Group 2 was compared to Group 1, there were significant reductions of sodium, creatinine, iron and calcium and elevations of total protein and bilirubin. When G...
Contagious equine metritis–outbreak of the disease in Kentucky and laboratory methods for diagnosing the disease. Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) was initially reported during the 1977 breeding season in England (Crowhurst, 1977) and Ireland (Timoney, Ward & Kelly, 1977. The disease has also been diagnosed in France and Australia (Huges, Bryden & MacDonald, 1978). The first occurrence of CEM in the United States followed the importation or 2 stallions from France late in 1977 which resulted in an outbreak early in the 1978 breeding season (Swerczek, 1978). Mares usually develop clinical signs of CEM 8--10 days after being covered by an infected stallion, when a copious, greyish discharge is seen. Other m...
Episodic nature of the delta 4-ene and delta 5-ene steroidogenic pathways and their relationship to the adreno-gonadal axis in stallions. Changes in the daily secretory patterns of testosterone and other 17 beta-hydroxyandrogen, total oestrogens and total corticoids were investigated in 7 stallions. Pulsatile fluctuations in plasma hormone levels were found in the serial blood samples collected hourly for 24 h in all animals. The plasma profiles indicated that corticoids, oestrogens and androgens were secreted episodically at all times in stallions. A significant correlation was observed between the precursor and products of delta 4-ene and delta 5-ene pathways and in inverse correlation (r = -0.68; P less than 0.01) was observe...
Testicular measurements and reproductive characteristics in stallions. Factors affecting testicular measurements in situ and the relationships among the measurements and various reproductive characteristics were studied using data from 48 stallions. Mean values during the breeding season are provided for scrotal width, widths and lengths of individual testes, combined weight of testicular parenchyma, daily sperm production and daily sperm output. Testicular measurements were highly repeatable from day to day and for repeated measurements on a given day; technician provided the largest source of variation in the measurements of a given stallion. Age significantly ...
A precursor role for DHA in a feto-placental unit for oestrogen formation in the mare. Plasma levels of total oestrogens and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) were measured by radioimmunossay in samples taken from various blood vessels in both maternal and fetal compartments in 11 Pony mates. High concentrations of oestrogens (greater than 100 ng/ml of plasma), expressed as oestrone equivalents, were found in the fetal circulation. On both the fetal and maternal sides, oestrogen concentrations were lower in blood going to than from the placenta. DHA concentrations, on the other hand, were higher in blood flowing to the placenta from the fetus. The fetal gonads were seen as the source...
Fertility of donor mares following nonsurgical collection of embryos. Embryos were collected nonsurgically on Day 7 or 8 after ovulation from 7 Quarter horse mares using a modified 30-ml Foley catheter to flush the uterine horn ipsilateral to the recent ovulation with 500 ml TCM-199 containing Hepes buffer. After collection, the uteri were infused with nitrofurazone to reduce the chances of infection due to the procedure. Eleven collections from 7 mares resulted in recovery of 9 embryos and nonsurgical transfer of 4 of these resulted in the birth of one foal. After collections, 8 oestrous cycles averages 22.75 days and 2 extended oestrous cycles were 43 and 59 d...
Histological development of the equine fetal adrenal gland. The horse fetal adrenal gland was shown to begin to increase in weight from about the end of the 4th month of pregnancy when the fetus has a crown-rump length of about 20 cm. Growth then proceeds steadily to term but, in contrast to the adult horse, the medulla remains thicker than the cortex throughout fetal life. The cortex also becomes established around 20 cm crown-rump length and at the same time the glomerular and fascicular zones become distinguishable. In contrast the reticular zone is not differentiated until around 50 cm crown-rump length. In the fetal adrenal cortex, the fascicular ...
Ovulation and the movement of the conceptus in the first 35 days of pregnancy in thoroughbred mares. Data from 937 Thoroughbred mares, when analysed as a single population, showed no significant difference between the activity of the right and left ovaries and the frequency of location of 35-day pregnancies in the right and left uterine horns. Nor were any differences shown when the data were analysed in years or sire groups. However, significantly more ovulations occurred in the right ovary in September and December and in the left ovary in October and November. Whereas the left and right ovulations were equal in lactating and dry mares, there was a highly significant increase in the number ...
Effect of successive ejaculation on stallion seminal characteristics. Five ejaculates were collected at hourly intervals from 32 sexually rested stallions. Gel volume, total seminal volume, sperm concentration and spermatozoa per ejaculate declined (P less than 0.01) from the first to the second or third ejaculate. Gel-free seminal volume or percentage of motile spermatozoa did not vary (P less than 0.05) among ejaculates. Ejaculates from 2- to 3-year-old stallions contained less volume and fewer spermatozoa than those from 9- to 16-year-old stallions. Regardless of the stallion's age the first, first 2, first 3 and first 4 ejaculates represented 50, 74, 86 and ...
Prolonged interovulatory interval after oestradiol treatment in mares. This study was designed to test if oestradiol treatment would prevent or delay luteolysis in mares. Mares (5/group) received 0, 0.1, 1.0 or 10.0 mg oestradiol-17 beta daily from the day of ovulation until the next ovulation or for a maximum of 32 days. This treatment did not prevent luteolysis which occurred 15.8, 16.8, 15.8 and 17.3 days after the previous ovulation for the mares treated with 0, 0.1, 1.0 and 10.0 mg oestradiol respectively. Although oestradiol treatment failed to alter oestrous behaviour after luteolysis, daily treatment with 10.0 mg oestradiol prevented follicular growth and...
Catecholamines and equine luteal progestagens. Corpora lutea (CL) from 7 mares were sliced and incubated for 2 h with ovine LH and various sympathomimetic agonists and blockers. None of these compounds was able to cause a significant increase in either progesterone or total progestagens by the luteal tissue. This is in contrast to earlier studies with bovine luteal tissue, and indicates that the equine CL is more refractory to exogenous stimulation than in the bovine CL.
Kinetics of gonadotrophins in the mare. Isoelectric focussing of crude extracts of equine pituitaries was used to obtain fractions containing FSH and LH. By comparison with FSH, LH was distributed over a similar but wider pH range indicating more marked polymorphism as determined from their isoelectric point (pI). Molecules with more sialic acid showed lower pI consistent with the concept that sialic acid is the major factor in determining pI and polymorphism in FSH and LH. Appropriate fractions were labelled with 125I, purified further and used in kinetic studies. FSH and LH molecules of similar pI had similar kinetics; however, LH...
Contagious equine metritis in Australia. Contagious equine metritis (CEM) was first diagnosed in Australia in August 1977 and it has since been found on 6 farms in 3 states, having been isolated from about 24 mares and 2 stallions. Details are given of the epidemiology and control procedures used to combat CEM on one farm. Difficulty was experience in successfully treating one infected stallion; this was thought to be associated with inadequate cleaning and treating of the diverticulum of the urethral fossa. Introduction of the disease has had far-reaching consequences and may well result in the adoption of routine bacteriological te...
The epidemiology of contagious equine metritis (CEM) in England 1977–1978). Following an outbreak of CEM in England during 1977 a Code of Practice was introduced to control the disease in 1978. The Code recommended a bacteriological screening programme for Thoroughbred mares and stallions and improved standards of hygiene on the stud farm. As a result of the implementation of the Code a number of asymptomatic carrier mares was detected. Stallions which had transmitted CEM in 2977 and were treated did not transmit the disease during 1978. Two small outbreaks of CEM were reported during the 1978 breeding season.
Synchronization of oestus and timed insemination of mares. Oestrus was synchronized in 116 mares by means of an i.m. injection of prostaglandin F-2 alpha (Day 0) and of fluprostenol (a PG analogue) on Day 16. Mares were then randomly divided into three groups. Group A mares (N = 30) were given 2500 i.u. hCG I.M. ON Day 20 and artificially inseminated on Day 21 without detection of oestrus. Group B mares (N = 32) were given 2500 i.u. hCG i.m. on Day 20 and inseminated on Days 21 and 23, also without oestrus detection. Group C mares (N = 54) were teased on Days 18, 19, 21, 23 and 25 and inseminated on Days 19, 21, 23 and 25 while they were in oestrus. S...
Induction of follicular development and ovulation in seasonally acyclic mares using gonadotrophin-releasing hormones and progesterone. Deeply acyclic (seasonally anovulatory) mares were treated with GnRH or a GnRH analogue to induce follicular development and ovulation. Courses of GnRH (3--4) were administered at approximately 10-day intervals to reproduce the gonadotrophin surges which precede ovulation in the normal cycle. Exogenous progesterone was administered in an attempt to reproduce the luteal phase pattern. Induced serum FSH concentrations were comparable to those causing follicular development in the normal cycle, but induced LH levels were lower and of shorter duration than those of the periovulatory surge. Three o...
FSH and LH concentrations in periparturient mares. The influence of the ovaries and presence of a foal on periparturient concentrations of FSH and LH were studied in 19 Pony mares. In intact and ovariectomized mares, mean concentrations of FSH fluctuated between 1.1and 9.9 ng/ml on Days -14 to-1 before parturition (Day 0). A surge of FSH occurred in all mares in association with parturition. From Days 1 to 10, the high levels of FSH gradually decreased in the intact group to the minimal concentrations that occur during oestrus, but remained elevated in the ovariectomized mares. There were no significant pre-partum changes in LH in either type ...
Embryo transport through the mare’s oviduct depends upon cleavage and is independent of the ipsilateral corpus luteum. Two experiments were conducted using 14 mares. In Exp. 1, mares were inseminated with semen treated with TEPA, which, in other species, has been shown to lead to an arrest in ovum cleavage at 2--4 cells. The oviducts and/or uterus were then flushed 7--10 days after ovulation in 6 mares (Group A) or 2--6 days after ovulation in 5 mares (Group B). Fresh eggs were found in the oviduct flushes of 5 Group A and 5 Group B mares: 9 of the 10 eggs appeared to have cleaved, but none had developed beyond 16-cells. Seven eggs contained spermatozoa and 3 of 4 eggs from each group showed evidence of fertil...
Morphology of spermatozoa in semen from stallions of normal fertility. Semen samples were collected from 3 fertile stallions by means of an 'open' artificial vagina and examined under scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The stallion spermatozoon has many features in common with that of other mammals but differs specifically in that it has an asymmetric head, an abaxial position of the tail and an acrosome of small volume. The presence of microtubules in the neck is also a characteristic of stallion spermatozoa.
An outbreak of contagious equine metritis in 1977 and its effect the following season. An outbreak of contagious equine metritis occurred in Newmarket in 1977. This survey records the effect on fertility of 20 of the stallions which were infected. Swabbing of mares since then has detected 37 carrier mares harbouring the organism, most frequently in the clitoral area. This swabbing programme reduced the incidence of new cases in 1978 to 3 mares and 1 stallion.
Changes in mammary development and composition of secretion during late pregnancy in the mare. Small samples of mammary secretion were taken for analysis from Thoroughbred mares during the last 3 weeks of pregnancy up to the time of foaling. The concentrations of sodium and chloride decreased while those of lactose, potassium, citrate, phosphate, calcium, magnesium and protein increased. The time-course of these changes showed marked variation between animals. The concentration of whey proteins began to increase about 10 days before parturition. The appearance of the secretion and the size of the mammary glands increased in the last few days of pregnancy. It is suggested that the concen...