Early pregnancy diagnosis in sows by ultrasonic linear electronic scanning

The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

Nozoki

Ohtaki

et al. 1997

ABSTRACT. We attempted to measure the gestagen concentration in the feces of pigs by using a commercial bovine milk progesterone quantitative test EIA kit, and investigated the possibility of applying of this method of gestagen concentration measurement to early pregnancy diagnosis in the sow. Feces were collected from the rectum of the pig, and 0.5 g of the feces was placed in 20 ml of distilled water, stirred, and centrifuged. The supernatant was used as the fecal solution for measurement of gestagen. The procedure used for measuring gestagen in feces was the same as that for the measurement of progesterone in milk, except that a standard fecal gestagen solution (0.5-30.0 ng/ml) was prepared by the authors in the laboratory. The sensitivity of measurement using this method was 0.80 ng/ ml, or 32.0 ng/g of fecal weight. The recovery was 105.2-105.6%. Intra-assay coeffecients of variation (CVs) were 2.8-8.5%. The interassay CVs were 7.4-10.2%. Gestagen concentrations in feces measured by the present method and progesterone concentrations in peripheral plasma, collected at the same time as the feces, were highly correlated (r=0.98, p<0.001). The criteria for diagnosis of pregnancy based on the fecal gestagen level was positive for a gestagen level of 200 ng/g and negative for a gestagen level of < 200 ng/ g. When fecal gestagen measurements were applied to early pregnancy diagnosis in 149 sows, the accuracy of diagnosis from day 21 to day 25 after the last mating was 96.2% for positive cases (102/106) and 95.3% for negative cases (41/43). Thus, the results of this study show the quantitative measurement of the fecal gestagen concentration in the sow using a bovine milk quantitative test EIA kit is a practical method for early pregnancy diagnosis. -KEY WORDS: early pregnancy diagnosis, feces, gestagen, quantitative test EIA kit, sow.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 59(8): 695-701, 1997 easier to collect than blood. Measurements were carried out using a commercial bovine milk progesterone enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit, which is quick and does not require any special equipment. The authors reported good results from the application of this method to early pregnancy diagnosis in sows [27][28][29]. In the present study, the same commercial bovine milk progesterone EIA kit was used for quantitative measurement of the gestagen concentration in samples of feces, which are even easier to collect than saliva, and the applicability of this method to early pregnancy diagnosis in the sow was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS Test kit:The kit used for gestagen quantitative measurement was an Ovucheck bovine milk progesterone EIA kit (Cambridge Veterinary Sciences Ltd., U.K.). The microtitre plate had 96 wells with sheep progesterone antibody pre-coated in each well. The reagents included enzyme-labeled antigen-binding solution (conjugate), substrate tablets, substrate tablet soluble buffer solution, and stopping solution, as well as four types of standard progesterone milk solutions (1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 30.0 ng/ml; standard milk solution was...

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement of Gestagen Concentration in Feces Using a Bovine Milk Progesterone Quantitative Test EIA Kit and Its Application to Early Pregnancy Diagnosis in the Sow.

The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

Nozoki

Ohtaki

et al. 1997

“…The reported accuracies of the other main methods of pregnancy diagnosis for sow are: 81.3-85.2% for the rectal examination method at 20 days after mating [1][2][3][4]; 94.0-97.0% for the vaginal mucosal tissue examination method at 20 days after mating [5,6]; 58.0-80.0% at 22 days after mating and 91.9-100% at 40-50 days after mating for the ultrasonic Doppler method [7]; 96.0-100% for the ultrasonic echo method at 30-90 days after mating [8]; and 100% for the ultrasonography at more than 22 days after mating [9,10]. Tamamura et al [17] reported 93.3% accuracy for the endocrinological method of pregnancy diagnosis at 22-27 days after mating, based on measurements of blood estrone sulphate using EIA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…or efficient livestock breeding, pregnancy diagnosis as soon as possible after mating is method [5,6], ultrasonic Doppler method [7], ultrasonic echo method [8], ultrasonography [9,10], urine estrogen measurement method [11], blood progesterone measurement method [12][13][14], and blood estrone sulphate measurement method [15][16][17]. However, all of these methods have problems in terms of simplicity, cost, and accuracy, and are not used widely in the clinical field.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Pregnancy Diagnosis in the Sow by Fecal Gestagen Measurement Using a Bovine Milk Progesterone Qualitative Test EIA Kit.

Journal of Reproduction and Development

Nozoki

Ohtaki

et al. 1997

Abstract. An attempt was made to measure the qualitative fecal gestagen concentration in the sow using a commercial bovine milk progesterone qualitative test EIA kit (qualitative kit), which can measure the gestagen concentration in approximately 10 min. Additionally, the possibility of applying this method of gestagen concentration measurement to early pregnancy diagnosis in the sow was investigated. Feces were collected from the rectum of the sow, and 0.5 g of feces was placed in 20 ml of distilled water and stirred. The supernatant was used as the fecal solution, which was subjected to measurement by the qualitative kit. The accuracy of pregnancy diagnosis at 21-25 days after last mating for 111 sows was 97.6% (80/82) for positive cases and 100% (17/17) for negative cases. The overall pregnancy diagnosis accuracy, including 12 indeterminable cases, was 87.4% (97/111). A comparison of the diagnoses based on gestagen concentrations that were measured using the qualitative kit, and the fecal gestagen concentrations of identical samples that were measured using the quantitative kit showed close agreement: 17 cases diagnosed as negative pregnancy by the qualitative kit all had a gestagen concentration of less than 200 ng/g, while 79 of 82 cases diagnosed as positive pregnancy by the qualitative kit showed a gestagen concentration of over 200 ng/g. The results of this study showed that qualitative measurement of the fecal gestagen concentration in the sow using a bovine milk progesterone qualitative test EIA kit is a practical method for early pregnancy diagnosis.

“…However, clinical applications of ultrasonography in sows has not been popular, and there have been only a few reports of ultrasonography use to detect early pregnancy [14] and uterine disease [15,16] in the sow. There have been even fewer reports of using ultrasonography for detailed observation of the porcine ovarian structure [17], and there have been no reports on the limitations of used for the experiments.…”

Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Ultrasound for Clinical Observation of the Porcine Ovary Through the Course of the Estrous Cycle and to Monitor Treatment of Ovarian Disease.

Journal of Reproduction and Development

Sawamura

Yasuda

et al. 1996

Abstract. Clinical ultrasonographic observations of the ovaries of 5 cross-bred sows were carried out during the estrous cycle and during treatment for ovarian disease (1 case of normal estrous cycle, 2 cases of ovarian quiescence, 1 case of large multiple follicular cysts, and 1 case of small multiple follicular cysts). Ultrasonography allowed clear observations of follicle growth, ovulation, luteinization and luteal regression during the porcine ovary estrous cycle. Observation of differences in the response of the ovarian structure between effective and ineffective pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) treatment in cases of sows with ovarian quiescence was also possible by ultrasonography. Ultrasonography additionally revealed that the administration of bovine anterior pituitary gonadotropin (bAPG) for treatment of sows with ovarian follicular cysts lead to temporary enlargement of the cysts. The results of this study have shown that ultrasonography is a superior method for detailed observation the porcine ovarian structure, and has promising possibilities for clinical applications.