Induction of ovulation in anestrous mares with pulsatile administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone

Four seasonally anestrous mares (Standardbred), housed under a nonstimulatory photoperiod of 8 hours light:16 hours dark, were administered gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in a pulsatile pattern (50 or 250 micrograms of GnRH/hour) for 8 to 18 days during February and March 1985. Treatment with GnRH, irrespective of dose or month, induced an increase in serum luteinizing hormone from a mean pretreatment value typical of anestrus (0.58 +/- 0.02 ng/ml +/- SE) to 10.84 +/- 1.27 ng/ml on day 8 of GnRH treatment. Ovulation in the 4 mares occurred 8.8 +/- 0.7 days after the initiation of pulsatile GnRH administration. In each instance, ovulation was followed by a functional corpus luteum, as indicated by a luteal phase (defined as the number of days on which serum levels of progesterone were greater than 1.0 ng/ml) which lasted 14.5 +/- 0.6 days. These results indicate that infusion of GnRH in a pulsatile pattern is effective in inducing follicular development and ovulation in anestrous mares in the absence of a stimulatory photoperiod.