title: Two or 24 h of daily contact with sexually active males results in different profiles of LH secretion that both lead to ovulation in anestrous goats.
abstract: Two experiments were conducted to (a) determine whether sexually active males are able to stimulate the sexual activity of anestrous female goats when duration of contact is reduced to an intermittent contact shorter than 4 daily hours and (b) compare the pattern of secretion of LH when anestrous goats are exposed either permanently or intermittently to males. In the first experiment, 4 groups of anovulatory goats were exposed to sexually active males for 24, 4, 2, or 1 h/d during 15 consecutive days, whereas control females remained isolated. More than 89% of females in the groups exposed to the sexually active bucks ovulated, whereas only 5% did so in the control group (P < 0.001). However, the proportion of females ovulating before day 4 was greater in the 2-, 4-, or 24-h contact groups than in the control, whereas it did not differ between the control group and the 1-h contact group (P = 0.02, <0.001, <0.001 and 0.23, respectively). In the second experiment, 3 groups of anovulatory goats were exposed permanently (24 h/d) or intermittently (2 h/d) to bucks during 5 d or remained isolated. We found that pulsatility of luteinizing hormone (LH) increased in the intermittent and permanent contact groups after males were introduced to females (P = 0.05); this pulsatility of LH remained elevated in the permanent-contact group, whereas it decreased in the intermittent-contact group, once the male was removed (P = 0.32 and 0.05, respectively). We conclude that 1 or 2 daily hours of contact with sexually active males is sufficient to stimulate ovulatory activity in anovulatory goats; however, ovulation is obtained through a different pattern of secretion of LH.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y Carretera a Sante Fe, C.P. 27054 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bedos
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y Carretera a Sante Fe, C.P. 27054 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y Carretera a Sante Fe, C.P. 27054 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y Carretera a Sante Fe, C.P. 27054 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fitz-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y Carretera a Sante Fe, C.P. 27054 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y Carretera a Sante Fe, C.P. 27054 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vielma
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y Carretera a Sante Fe, C.P. 27054 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR 7247, INRA-CNRS-Université de Tours, 37380 Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chemineau
authors.affiliation: Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR 7247, INRA-CNRS-Université de Tours, 37380 Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y Carretera a Sante Fe, C.P. 27054 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. Electronic address: joaldesa@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Delgadillo
mesh_terms: D000780:Anestrus / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006041:Goats / Q000502:physiology*; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010060:Ovulation / Q000502:physiology*; D010062:Ovulation Induction / Q000379:methods; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007986:Luteinizing Hormone
keywords: Anovulatory does; Duration of contact; Male effect; Ovulation; Photoperiodic treatment