RESEARCH REGARDING THE DYNAMICS OF PROTEINS ASSOCIATED TO GESTATION AND PLASMATIC PROGESTERONE IN GOATS OF LOCAL BREEDS IN PRECOCIOUS AND EARLY PREGNANCY
Stela Zamfirescu, Andreea Anghel, J.F. Beckers
Abstract
The proteins associated to gestation (PAG) and the serum progesterone were studied in goats of local breeds in Romania (Carpatina n= 9; White of Banat n=13). The researches took place between 2008 and 2009 and the RIA and ELIZA techniques were used in the specialized laboratories within "Ovidius" University Constanta and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Liege, Belgium. These methods were used to determine the value of PAG and of plasmatic progesterone in goats during estrus and different periods of early gestation. The results obtained emphasized the following: on estrus day, the PAG values in goats of the two breeds (n=22) were between 0.036±0.016 ng/ml and 0.95±0.22ng/ml in pregnant animals, 0.58±0.37, respectively, and 0.47±0.19 in non-pregnant animals. On days 25 and 30 after mating, the values increased constantly in the pregnant animals to 3.71±2.18 ng/ml /14.6±5.8 ng/ml for Carpathian and 6.53±1.06 ng/ ml/ 19.6±2.5 ng/ ml in White of Banat. In both breeds, the gestation probability in goats was 90%. The presence of gestation proteins is visibly increased after day 12 from mating, while non-pregnancy is confirmed 100% in all the cases when PAG value was under 2 ng/ml. On estrus day, the plasmatic progesterone, determined by ELIZA, had values of 0.31±0.025 and 0.53±0.27 ng/ml, respectively, in pregnant goats and values of 3.70±1.57 and 3.48±1.63, respectively, in non-pregnant goats. On day 14, the value of plasmatic progesterone increases suddenly in the pregnant animals to 13.60±2.65 ng/ml (Carpathian) and 20.69±4.09ng/ml (White of Banat), reaches a peak on day 25 (19.10±3.13 ng/ml in Carpatian and 20.69 ± 4.09 ng/ml, respectively) and is maintained high till day 30 (16.37±2.41 ng/ml, 18.37 ± 3.39 ng/ml, respectively). The originality of the tests consists in the fact that on day 14, the test has a diagnosis value of 100%, progesterone values above 13 ng/ml confirming the persistence of corpus luteum and the occurrence of pregnancy in goats. The cost of the ELIZA test (progesterone) is 18.75 lei and it is recommended for the monitoring of the reproduction activity in goats.
