title: Steroid and metabolic hormonal profile of porcine serumvis-à-visovarian follicular fluid.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to understand whether serum level of the steroid and metabolic hormones may be indicative of their level in ovarian follicular fluid (FF) in porcine, and its influence on fertility.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ovaries from pigs (n=32) of two genetic groups, namely, native (Ghungroo; n=16) and crossbred (Hampshire × Ghungroo; n=16) were collected. Both the genetic groups comprised gilts (n=8) and sows (n=8), and sows were in luteal phase of estrus cycle. FF was aspirated from small, medium and large follicles, and centrifuged for the collection of supernatant for further analysis. Blood samples were collected from the same animals, and serum was separated. Hormones, namely, cortisol, T3, T4 and testosterone were estimated by radioimmunoassay. Two-way ANOVA was used for analysis of data considering genetic background (native or crossbred), stage of reproductive life (gilt or sow), and source of sample (serum or FF) as fixed effects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was observed that all the hormones except cortisol differed significantly (p<0.01) based on genetic background. Stage of reproductive life and source of sample did not affect the studied hormonal level. Within the genetic groups, stage of reproductive life influenced T3 (p<0.01), cortisol (p<0.05) and testosterone (p<0.01) level in crossbred pigs as compared to T3 (p<0.01) only in native pigs. The level of T3 in serum, as well as FF, was higher (p<0.01) in Ghungroo gilts compared to sows. However, a reverse of this was observed in the case of crossbred pigs. The level of cortisol (p<0.05) and testosterone (p<0.01) was higher in crossbred sows than gilts in both serum and FF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study revealed that serum level of the steroid and metabolic hormones is indicative of their level in the ovarian FF. Further, varying level of steroid and metabolic hormones in pigs based on genetic background may be due to variation in body size, rate of energy metabolism and stage of (re)productive life.
authors.affiliation: ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Guwahati - 781 131, Assam, India; ICAR-Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Ranchi - 834 010, Jharkhand, India.
authors.forename: Soumen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naskar
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Lakhimpur College of Veterinary Science (AAU), Lakhimpur - 787 051, Assam, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borah
authors.affiliation: ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Guwahati - 781 131, Assam, India.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Vashi
authors.affiliation: ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Guwahati - 781 131, Assam, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Guwahati - 781 131, Assam, India.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Sarma
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Physiology, College of Veterinary Science (AAU), Guwahati - 781 022, Assam, India.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goswami
authors.affiliation: Division of Veterinary Biotechnology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar - 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Dhara
keywords: T3; T4; cortisol; follicular fluid; pig; serum; testosterone