2010年7月
Prolactin Secretion and Ovarian Function in Cycling and Non-Cycling African Female Elephants (Loxodonta africana)
JOURNAL OF VETERINARY MEDICAL SCIENCE
- 巻
- 72
- 号
- 7
- 開始ページ
- 845
- 終了ページ
- 852
- 記述言語
- 英語
- 掲載種別
- 研究論文(学術雑誌)
- DOI
- 10.1292/jvms.09-0480
- 出版者・発行元
- JAPAN SOC VET SCI
Reproduction of captive elephants in zoos has shown a low fecundity and requires improvement. One of the reasons for low fecundity is ovarian dysfunction in many female elephants. To investigate whether prolactin has a correlation with ovarian function in female elephants, the serum concentrations of prolactin, progesterone and estradiol-17 beta in four African female elephants (one cycling female and three non-cycling female elephants) were measured. Cyclic patterns of prolactin and estradiol-17 beta were observed in the cycling female elephant, which tended to be high during the follicular phase and low during the luteal phase. On the other hand, a cyclic pattern of prolactin was not observed in the non-cycling female elephants. One of the three non-cycling females (Mako) had developed breasts and showed significantly higher average levels of prolactin than the other female elephants. These results suggested that high concentrations of circulating estradiol-17 beta during the follicular phase stimulated prolactin secretion. They also suggested that hyperprolactinemia in Mako was one of the causes of the developed mammary glands and ovarian dysfunction.
- リンク情報
- ID情報
-
- DOI : 10.1292/jvms.09-0480
- ISSN : 0916-7250
- PubMed ID : 20179385
- Web of Science ID : WOS:000280726300004