Effect of constant-release melatonin implants and prolonged exposure to a long day photoperiod on prolactin secretion and hair growth in mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon).

The aims of this study were to examine whether mouflons exposed to constant long and short day photoperiods are able to exhibit an annual cycle of hair growth and moult, and prolactin (PRL) secretion. Mouflon ewes were assigned to three groups of treatment. Ewes were maintained, either under natural photoperiod (control, n = 9), or received a series of subcutaneous melatonin implants from December to April (n = 8), or were exposed to a constant long day photoperiod (16-h light:8-h dark; 16L:8D) during 18 months (n = 7). Blood was collected weekly to determine PRL concentrations, and hair samples were clipped weekly from the base of the neck to measure the length of predominant hair. Under constant long days and with melatonin implants, mouflons expressed an annual rhythm of PRL secretion, even though these treatments modified the times of rise or falling of PRL concentrations throughout the year. Hair growth initiation was almost coincident with the summer solstice in both control and melatonin-implanted mouflons but occurred two months earlier in long day hold mouflons (P < 0.001). Long day hold mouflons had a lower hair growth rate than control and melatonin-implanted mouflons (P < 0.001), and at the end of the experiment, a shorter hair length (3.4 +/- 0.24 cm; P < 0.01) than control (4.3 +/- 0.17 cm), and melatonin-implanted mouflons (4.2 +/- 0.12 cm). Our data support the conclusion that in mouflon, an endogenous circannual rhythm of PRL secretion exists, and that the seasonal cycle of hair growth and moult appears to depend, at least in part, on circulating levels of PRL.