One year old fillies can be successfully used as embryo donors.
Abstract: One year old fillies are able to conceive but, usually, not to give birth to a living foal. Although embryo transfer allows the production of foals from mature mares with repeated pregnancy losses, no reports are available on the use of one year old fillies as embryo donors. To evaluate this possibility, eleven 12-16 months old Haflinger mares were inseminated with fresh semen and subjected to embryo recovery. Some of the recovered embryos were non-surgically transferred into synchronized mature recipients. Pregnancies were terminated using PGF2alpha at day 25. Fillies' embryo recovery rate and their recipients' pregnancy rate at day 25 were compared with those achieved in two years old and mature mares of the same breed, subjected to the same management. Embryo recovery rate was 21/44 (47.7%), 12/16 (75%) and 22/26 (84.6%) (P>0.01) for one year old, two years old and mature mares, respectively. Five/7 (71.4%) one year old donors' embryos resulted in a pregnancy after transfer and 4/7 (57.1%) developed until day 25. Significant differences in pregnancy rates after transfer between donors' age groups were not observed; no short term side effects resulted from the use of fillies as embryo donors. This study showed that one year old mares employed as embryo donors produce embryos both morphologically normal and able to develop in recipient mares at least up to day 25 of pregnancy.
Publication Date: 2006-09-28 PubMed ID: 17010419DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2006.08.004Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This research explores the viability of using one-year-old fillies as embryo donors, with the results demonstrating that these young horses can successfully produce embryos that develop normally up to the 25th day of pregnancy in recipient mares.
Objective and Methodology
- The researchers were investigating if one-year-old fillies could serve as successful embryo donors. This age group is usually able to conceive, but not give birth to a live foal, hence the exploration of their utility in embryo transfer.
- Eleven Haflinger mares aged between 12 to 16 months were selected. The mares were inseminated with fresh semen and underwent embryo recovery.
- Some of the embryos recovered were non-surgically transferred into mature recipient mares. The pregnancies in these recipient mares were then terminated on the 25th day.
Control Group and Comparison
- To evaluate the success of the procedure in one-year-old fillies, their embryo recovery rates and the pregnancy rates of the recipient mares were compared to those of two-year-old and mature mares of the same breed.
- The two-year-old and mature mares were subjected to the same management practices as the younger subjects, providing a clear basis for comparison.
Results
- The embryo recovery rate for the one-year-old fillies was 47.7%; that is, 21 out of 44 attempts resulted in successful embryo recovery. This was significantly lower than the rates for two-year-old fillies (75%) and mature mares (84.6%). However, the difference did not reach the level of statistical significance.
- Of the embryos from one-year-old fillies transferred to recipient mares, 71.4% led to a pregnancy, and 57.1% developed until the 25th day. Importantly, no significant differences in pregnancy rates were observed across the age groups.
- No short-term side effects were observed from using one-year-old fillies as embryo donors.
Conclusions
- The study concludes that one-year-old mares can serve as successful embryo donors. The embryos they produce are morphologically normal and able to develop in a recipient mare up to at least the 25th day of pregnancy.
Cite This Article
APA
Panzani D, Rota A, Pacini M, Vannozzi I, Camillo F.
(2006).
One year old fillies can be successfully used as embryo donors.
Theriogenology, 67(2), 367-371.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2006.08.004 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Dipartimento di Clinica Veterinaria, Università di Pisa, San Piero a Grado, Pisa 56010, Italy. d.panzani@vet.unipi.it
MeSH Terms
- Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal / pharmacology
- Age Factors
- Animals
- Dinoprost / pharmacology
- Embryo Transfer / veterinary
- Female
- Horses / embryology
- Horses / physiology
- Pregnancy
- Pregnancy Rate
- Reproduction / physiology
Citations
This article has been cited 3 times.- Segabinazzi LGTM, Andrade LRP Jr, Alvarenga MA, Dell'Aqua JA Jr, Canisso IF. Use of Intravaginal Progesterone-Releasing Device Results in Similar Pregnancy Rates and Losses to Long-Acting Progesterone to Synchronize Acyclic Embryo Recipient Mares. Vet Sci 2021 Sep 10;8(9).
- Hannan MA, Haneda S, Murata K, Takeuchi S, Cheong SH, Nambo Y. Birth of first foals through embryo transfer after artificial insemination using frozen semen in Japan. J Reprod Dev 2020 Apr 10;66(2):193-197.
- Hannan MA, Haneda S, Itami Y, Wachi S, Saitoh T, Cheong SH, Nambo Y. Successful embryo transfer from Hokkaido native pony after artificial insemination with frozen semen. J Vet Med Sci 2019 Feb 19;81(2):241-244.
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