Abstract
This study was conducted to examine the effect of Kisspeptin-10 as an alternative to equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) in estrus- synchronization protocol for improving the reproductive performance of Karadi ewes. Forty adult ewes of 3-7 years old and 65–70 kg live body weight were equally divided into four equal groups. Animals were inserted with a progestagen (60 mg MAP)-impregnated sponges for 13 days as estrus synchronization protocol. Following withdrawal of sponges, first group was served as control (C) and intramuscularly injected with normal saline only. The second group was intramuscularly injected with 250 IU of eCG (eCG), while those of third and fourth groups were intravenously injected with 4 and 8 µg /kg body weight of Kisspeptin-10, referred as Kisspeptin1 and Kisspeptin2 groups respectively. Serum progesterone and LH concentrations did not significantly differ among groups before estrus synchronization protocol and eCG or Kisspeptin treatments. The two Kisspeptin-injected groups attained better (P≤0.01) overall mean estrus (100%), fertility (90%), conception (90 and 100%, respectively), lambing (90%), and twinning (10%) rates with lesser barrenness (10%) as compared with the other groups. Moreover, eCG and Kisspeptin groups exhibited greater (P≤ 0.01) percentage of increasing fecundity (233%) and extra lambs born (0.7) than the control group. In conclusion, treatment of Karadi ewes either with Kisspeptin-10 or eCG hormones enhanced the overall reproductive performance, but did not affect serum progesterone and LH concentrations.
Highlights
Increasing sheep productivity by increasing lambing frequency and ∕ or fecundity is considered important in the development of sheep production in world
Kisspeptins are released from neurons in the hypothalamus and via their receptor (Kiss1r), which is present on GnRH neurons, stimulate GnRH
First group was served as control and intramuscularly injected with normal saline only (Placebo group).The ewes in group two were intramuscularly injected with 250 IU of equine chorionic gonadotropin, eCG (Serigan, OVEJERO Group, Spain), while those of groups three and four were intravenous injected with4 (Kisspeptin1) and 8 (Kisspeptin2) μg / Kg body weight (BW) of Kisspeptin-10 respectively
Summary
Increasing sheep productivity by increasing lambing frequency and ∕ or fecundity is considered important in the development of sheep production in world. Kisspeptins are a recently discovered family of neuropeptides with central role in regulating the reproductive functions of livestock animals. They are cleaved from a single 145 amino acid precursor to peptides ranging from 54 to 10 amino acids in length with equivalent biological activity [10, 25, 32]. It was discovered that the majority (~90%) of GnRH neurons located in the ovine hypothalamus are immunoreactive for Kisspeptin [36] This is unique to the sheep and has not been observed in other nonruminant species. 10 be an alternative to equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) in estrus synchronization protocol for improving the reproductive performance and inducing hormonal profile (LH and progesterone) of Karadi ewes
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