Concentrations of Oestradiol-17β and Progesterone in Plasma and Defatted Milk of Cattle During the Oestrous Cycle

Br. vel. }. (1983) . 139, 49

CONCENTRATIONS OF OESTRADIOL-17{3 AND PROGESTERONE IN PLASMA AND DEFATTED MILK OF CATTLE DURING THE OESTROUS CYCLE

BY

R. G.

GLENCROSS AN[)

S. A .

AI3EY\\'AROENE

Pll)•siology Department, National Institute for Resea rch in Dair_ying, Shi'!field, Reading, Berks, RC2 9r1 T

Concentrations of oestrogens in bovine pl as m a durin g th e oes trous cycle have been re port ed by Scren, Bo no & Bol elli ( 1976), Lo pez-S ebas ti a n & Saumande ( 1979) a nd Glencross & Pope ( 198 1), a nd in bovine milk durin g th e cycle by M o nk, Erb & M o llett ( 1975), N a rendra n et al. ( 1979) and Pand ey et al. ( 1981 ). M o nk et al. ( 1975 ) and Ba tra et al. ( 1980) have compared th e oestrogen levels in milk with those in th e plasma of cows and buffaloes res pect ive ly . The re lati ons hips o f co nce ntratio ns of proges tero ne in bovin e pl as m a with those in milk have bee n revi ewed by Foo te ( 19 79) a nd Pope & Swinburne ( 1980) . A furth e r invest iga tion of the re la tion s hip betwee n oestradiol-17 {3 a nd proges terone in pl as m a a nd in defatted milk durin g the oestrous cycle in catt le has now bee n made . Blood samples (50 ml) , collect ed by jugular venipuncture into hepa rinized, evac ua ted glass tubes, a nd milk (30 ml ) coll ec ted from th e individu a l yields obtained by machine-milking, were ta ken daily ( 15 .00 to 16.00 h ) for 30 days from three British Friesia n cows having regul a r cycles. After centrifugation ( 1900 gat 4°C for 4·5 min) of a ll samples, pl as m a was se pa ra ted from who le blood, and defatted milk prepa red by as pirating the crea m l r. O es tradiol-17{3 was estimated in mples of plasma (5 ml) a nd defatted milk (7 ml) oestrous Glencross & Pope ( 1981) after extraction using by the radioimmunoa ssay method the Sepharose-coup led a ntis e rum edure of Glencross et al. ( 1981 ). Proges terone was m eas ured in plasm a by th e m eaye thod of Gl encross & Po pe ( 1981) a nd in d efatted milk by the direct- a ddition meth odsaof Gadsby et al. (1974) modifi ed by Ball & Pope of ( 1976). M ea n concentrations o f oest ra dioproc l-17{3 in plasm a a nd in defatted milk were similar in m ag nitud e and patte rn with a pea k at oestrus and a second, s m a ll er pea k four to live days later (Fig. I) . Proges teron e concentrations in plasm a were a bout twice those in defatted milk , but in both fluids the pattern was similar, showing a normal, gradual lutea l ph ase rise and a sharp fall three to four days before oestrus . Th e concentrations of oestradiol-17{3 and progeste ron e found were simil ar to thos e previously reported by Gl encross et al. ( 1973) and Smith et al. ( 1975) for plasma and by

so

BRITISH VETERINARY JOURNAL, 139, I

Pope et al. ( 1976) for progesterone in defatted milk. Although individual estimates were high er than reported here, Monk et al. (1975) also found a clos e relationship between levels of oestradiol in plasma and who le milk with a peak around the tim e of oestrus. Batra et at. ( 1980) found a close relationship between oestradio l-17 {3 levels in plasma a nd whole milk in the buffalo.

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Fig . I . Mea n co nce ntrati o ns of ocstradiol-17{3 and progesterone in plasma a nd defatted milk during the oes trou s cycle in three British Friesia n cows (zero po ints on time scale are the days of oestrus).

REFERENCES

BALL, P. J. H. & POP£, G. S. ( 1976). joumal of Endocrinology 69, 40P. BATRA , S. K. , ARORA, R. C., BACHLAUS, N. K., PAHWA , G . S. & PANDEY, R. S. ( 1980) . Joumal of Endocrirzology 84, 205 . FOOT£, R. H. ( 1979). In Beltsville Symposia in Agricultural Research 3. Animal Reproduction, cd. H. W. Hawk , p. Ill. Montclair, New Jersey: Allan held, Osm un & Co. GADSBY,j. E., HEAP, R. B. , HENVILL£, A. & LAING , j. A. ( 1974).}oumal of Physiology 242, 3P. GLENCROSS, R. G. & POPE, G . S. ( 198 1). Animal Reproduction Science 4, 93. GLENCROSS, R. G., ABEYWARDENE, S. A., CORNEY, S. J. & MORRIS, H . S. (1981). joumal of Chromatography 223, 193. GLENCROSS, R. G., MUNRO, I. B., SEN IOR, B. E. & POPE, G. S. ( 1973). Acta endocrino/ogica 73, 374.

HORMONE LEVELS DURING THE OESTROUS CYCLE LOPEZ-SEBASTIAN,

A. & SAUMANDE, J.

19, 1689. MONK, E. L.,

R.

(1979).

51

Amwles de biologic animate, biochimie et biophJ•sique

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NARENDRAN,

ERB,

R.,

E.

HAC KER ,