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A preliminary study of pregnancy termination in the bitch with slow‐release formulations of prostaglandin analogues
Author(s) -
JACKSON P. S.,
FURR B. J. A.,
HUTCHINSON F. G.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of small animal practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1748-5827
pISSN - 0022-4510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-5827.1982.tb01667.x
Subject(s) - medicine , luteolysis , pregnancy , prostaglandin analogue , cloprostenol , prostaglandin , beagle , estrous cycle , gestation , gestational sac , corpus luteum , endocrinology , ovulation , ovary , hormone , biology , genetics
Forty‐two beagle bitches at gestational ages from 4 to 35 days were treated with various formulations of the prostaglandin analogues fluprostenol and cloprostenol at doses from 10–40 μg/kg in an attempt to terminate pregnancy. Pregnancy was confirmed and the effect of treatment assessed by euthanasia and post‐mortem examination to detect viable foetuses or resorbing implants twenty‐one days after prostaglandin administration. Five of the bitches treated with an aqueous solution of cloprostenol by subcutaneous injection showed unacceptable side effects but both compounds in a slow release injectable formulation or impregnated into intravaginal devices had a luteolytic effect with only mild side effects in occasional bitches. Successful response to treatment in terms of sustained depression of plasma progesterone concentrations and pregnancy termination was 80 per cent at gestation stages of 25 days or over but only 27 per cent when given earlier in pregnancy. Mature follicles developed in two bitches which aborted following treatment at 14 days and returned to oestrus 10–14 days later. These preliminary findings show that slow‐release formulations of fluprostenol and cloprostenol can cause complete luteolysis in the bitch.