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Abstract. Although sika deer is valuable for deer farming in Japan, little is understood about the reproductive endocrinology of the male. Especially, there is no information on the blood LH concentration in male sika deer. The present study aimed to determine the annual changes of serum LH and testosterone (T) secretion in male sika deer. Blood samples were collected monthly from three stags for 3 years (1998)(1999)(2000). Serum LH and T concentrations were determined using a secondantibody enzyme immunoassay and a time-resolved fluorescent immunoassay, respectively. The serum LH and T concentrations fluctuated obviously in an annual fashion. The LH concentrations peaked in May, June and July, while the T concentrations peaked in September and October. These results suggest that LH and T secretion in adult male sika deer are mainly controlled by annual rhythm in the same manner as in other temperate cervids. Key words: Sika deer, Stag, LH, Testosterone (J. Reprod. Dev. 48: [613][614][615][616][617] 2002) eer farming is popular in China, New Zealand, A us t r a l ia a nd K o r ea . Var i o us s pec ie s , including red deer (Cervus elaphus), sika deer (C. nippon), rusa deer (C. timorensis) and fallow deer (Dama dama), are farmed to produce venison and/ or antler velvet [1]. In Japan, deer farming has not been as popular. We believe that farming native sika deer would be useful for protecting against genetic contamination of these deer with other species, for providing a constant supply of venison, and for buffering the wild sika deer population that has been reduced by hunting as it has in Europe [2].Successful deer farming requires appropriate management systems based on physiological information. However, such a system for sika deer has not been established yet. Sika deer are seasonal breeders that mate in the fall [3] and it is essential f o r e f f e c t i v e f a r m i n g t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e reproductive endocrinology of this species. Little is known about the reproductive endocrinology of sika deer except for the steroid hormones such as testosterone (T) in males [4][5][6] and progesterone in females [5,7]. Yamaji et al. [8] described seasonal changes in the gonadotropic cells in the pituitary of wild sika deer. However, there is no published information of blood LH concentrations in sika deer. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the annual changes of serum LH and T concentrations in male sika deer.

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To obtain reagents required for the purification, identification and diagnosis of disease, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific to equine serum proteins was prepared by cell fusion.Thirty seven hybrid cell lines that secrete mAb specific to eight serum proteins (Al, Es, Anim. Sci. Technol. (Jpn.) 67 (4): [378][379][380][381] 1996

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