Temporal relations between plasma concentrations of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, estradiol-17beta, progesterone, prolactin, and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone during the follicular, ovulatory, and early luteal phase in the bitch.

Compared with other domestic animals, relatively little is known about the changes in, and temporal relations between, reproductive hormones around the time of ovulation in the domestic bitch. Therefore, plasma concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol-17beta, progesterone, prolactin (PRL), and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) were determined one to six times daily from the start of the follicular phase until 5 days after the estimated day of ovulation in six Beagle bitches. In all bitches, the pre-ovulatory LH surge was accompanied by a pre-ovulatory FSH surge. A pre-ovulatory PRL or alpha-MSH surge was not observed. The pre-ovulatory FSH and LH surges started concomitantly in four bitches, but in two bitches the FSH surge started 12 h earlier than the LH surge. The FSH surge (110+/-8 h) lasted significantly longer than the LH surge (36+/-5 h). In contrast with the pre-ovulatory FSH surge, the pre-ovulatory LH surge was bifurcated in four of six bitches. The mean plasma LH concentrations before (1.9+/-0.4 microg/L) and after (1.9+/-0.3 microg/L) the LH surge were similar, but the mean plasma FSH concentration before the FSH surge (1.6+/-0.3 U/L) was significantly lower than that after the FSH surge (3.1+/-0.2 U/L). In most bitches the highest plasma estradiol-17beta concentration coincided with or followed the start of the pre-ovulatory LH surge. In five of the six bitches the plasma progesterone concentration started to rise just before or concurrently with the start of the LH surge. In conclusion, the results of this study provide evidence for the differential regulation of the secretion of LH and FSH in the bitch. In addition, the interrelationship of the plasma profiles of estradiol-17beta and LH suggests a positive feedback effect of estradiol-17beta on LH surge release. The start of the pre-ovulatory LH surge is associated with an increase in the plasma progesterone concentration in this species.