Milk progesterone concentration and production in superovulated Holstein cows.

Six Holstein cows in a commercial herd (three superovulated and three controls) and eight Holstein cows superovulated a total of 12 times in an experimental herd were studied. Superovulation was induced primarily by treatment with follicle stimulating hormone and prostaglandin F2 alpha. Milk was weighed twice daily for 30 days following treatment in the commercial herd with no effect on production. Milk samples were saved on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to determine progesterone content. Last milk at mid-cycle averaged 8.2 ng/ml of progesterone for the cows in the experimental herd, and 7 days after superovulation they averaged 52.6 +/- 10.2 ng/ml (mean +/- standard error) of progesterone. The correlation with number of embryos recovered was .86. Therefore, milk progesterone may be useful in monitoring superovulatory response. Also, injection of prostaglandin F2 alpha into superovulated cows 9 days after a previous injection did not initiate a new estrous cycle, a fact accurately monitored by milk progesterone determinations.

Growth and reproductive development in freemartins hormonally treated from 1 to 79 weeks of age.

Postnatal growth, steroid hormone profiles and response to steroid hormone treatment were studied in 18 freemartins and one normal female born co-twin with a bull. They were either treated postnatally with testosterone or estrone at one week of age, or left untreated until 50 weeks of age when they received silastic implants calculated to release either 12.9 microgram of estrone or 2.6 microgram of estradiol per day per kg of body weight. Later a dihydrotestosterone-treated group was added. Reproductive development was studied by palpation per rectum and by examination when animals were slaughtered at 79 weeks of age. Treated animals grew slightly faster than untreated animals. Testosterone in untreated freemartins averaged 76 and 87 pg/ml of blood plasma during weeks 1 to 48 and 52 to 56. Corresponding values for those animals with small testosterone implants (weeks 1 to 48) and with larger implants (weeks 52 to 56) were 130 and 272 pg/ml. Estrone and estradiol values appeared to fluctuate between 10 and 50 pg/ml but values are uncertain because they were below the sensitivity of the assay then available. Thus, circulating steroid hormone concentrations were similar to those reported for castrates. Testosterone stimulated clitoral development prenatally and postnatally. None of the treatments influenced vaginal depth, which averaged 4.0, 9.0 and 10.9 cm at 1, 24 and 52 weeks of age. Vaginal depth at birth was not a reliable indicator of freemartinism. Androgen may have inhibited udder development, whereas estrogen appeared to be stimulatory. The reproductive organs of the freemartin were characterized by differences in underdevelopment and the general presence of seminal vesicles. The latter structures, plus clitoral development at birth in 3 animals and postnatal response of the clitoris to testosterone is interpreted to indicate that the presence of androgens is one factor in abnormal development. Otherwise, gross morphology of the reproductive tract was not related to hormone treatment, postnatal gonadal histology, endocrinology or lymphocyte chromosomal karyotypes.