Farrowing induction with a combination of prostaglandin F 2α and a peripherally acting α 2-Adrenergic agonist AGN 190851 and a combination of prostaglandin F 2α and oxytocin

Abstract

We studied the effect of prostaglandin (PG) F 2α-AGN 190851 on farrowing induction and compared it with that of PGF 2α-oxytocin. Eighty crossbred, multiparous sows were randomly assigned to the following 4 treatment groups of 20 sows each: 1) control, saline-saline; 2) PGF 2α (10 mg/sow)-oxytocin (30 IU/sow); 3) PGF 2α (10 mg/sow)-AGN 190851 (0.06 mg/kg); and 4) PGF 2α (10 mg/sow)-AGN 190851 (0.1 mg/kg). Either PGF 2α or saline was administered intramuscularly on Day 111 of gestation at 11:30 h; AGN 190851, oxytocin or saline was administered intramuscularly 20 h after the first injection. The PGF 2α-AGN 190851 (0.1 mg/kg) treated sows had the shortest mean farrowing interval (2.1 ± 1.6 h, mean ± SD) compared with the remaining treatment groups (control: 67.1 ± 26.2 h; PGF 2α-oxytocin: 5.6 ± 6.7 h; PGF 2α-AGN 190851 [0.06 mg/kg]: 3.0 ± 2.8 h). Duration of farrowing, litter size, litter weight and interval from weaning to first estrus in sows were not significantly changed by these treatments. The PGF 2α-oxytocin group had a significantly higher stillbirth rate than the control group, whereas the PGF 2α-AGN 190851 (0.1 mg/kg) group had the lowest number of pigs born dead and stillbirth rate among the 4 treatment groups. These results suggested that the PGF 2α-AGN 190851 combination can be used as an alternative method to PGF 2α-oxytocin for synchronizing farrowing.