Passive immunoneutralization of endogenous inhibin increases ovulation rate in miniature Shiba goats

We reported previously that passive immunization against inhibin enhances follicular growth and increases the ovulation rate. However, the ovulation rate was not comparable to the number of follicles. Therefore, the aim of this study was to attempt to increase the ovulation rate by increasing the interval between inhibin immunization and PGF2alpha injection. Five miniature Shiba goats were treated with 10 ml inhibin antiserum (inhibin-AS) developed against [Tyro30]-inhibin alpha (1-30). A control group (n=5) was treated with normal goat serum. All animals were injected intramuscularly with 125 microg PGF2alpha 72 h after treatment to induce estrus and ovulation. Blood samples were collected for hormonal assay and the ovulation rate was determined by laparotomy. In contrast to the control group, there was a significant increase in plasma concentrations of FSH in the immunized group. After luteolysis, plasma concentrations of estradiol-17beta increased markedly to a preovulatory peak about 2 folds higher (P<0.01) than that of controls. In addition, the ovulation rate was greater in the immunized group (14.4 +/- 2.2) than in the control group (2.2 +/- 0.6), and the mean number of follicles > or = 4 mm in diameter was 10.0 +/- 0.8 in the inhibin-AS group compared with 2.4 +/- 0.3 in control group. The present results demonstrate that immunoneutralization of endogenous inhibin increased FSH secretions in miniature shiba goats. The increased FSH secretion enhanced follicular growth and increased the ovulation rate. Additionally, increasing the interval between inhibin-AS and PGF2alpha injections (to 72 h) resulted in a greater ovulation rate compared with the previous protocol (48 h). Therefore, inhibin-AS treatment proved to be an effective alternative to exogenous gonadotropin methods for induction of superovulation in goats.