PGF2α and its Metabolites in Uterine and Jugular Venous Plasma and Endometrium of Ewes during Pregnancy

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Abstract
Three experiments were conducted to examine the effects of early pregnancy on levels of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) in the ovineendometrium and on concentrations of PGF2α, 15-keto-PGF2α and 13, 14-dihydro-15-keto-PGF2α in uterine and jugular venous plasma. In the first study, content (ng) and concentration (ng/g) of PGF2α were found to be greater in the endometrium of pregnant (1,996 ± 256 and 179 ± 29, respectively) than of nonpregnant (1,046 ± 145 and 91 ± 14, respectively) ewes, particularly on days 15 and 16, but no change was detected in concentrations of PGF2α in uterine venous plasma (5.8 ± 1.3 and 5.6 ± .8 ng/ml, respectively). Of the two metabolites of PGF2α measured in jugular plasma, only 15-keto-PGF2α was detectable, which may indicate that the ewe lung lacks the Δ 1 3 -reductase enzyme. Both 15-keto-PGF2α and 13, 14-dihydro-15-keto-PGF2α were detectable in uterine venous plasma, but no differences in the concentrations of these metabolites were found between pregnant and nonpregnant ewes. In the second study, patterns of concentrations of PGF2α in plasma were parallel between left and right uterine branches of ovarian veins (UBOV) in nonpregnant ewes on days 7 and 13 postestrus. Profiles of PGF2α were essentially parallel in plasma from the left and right UBOV among pregnant and nonpregnant ewes on day 15 postestrus in the third experiment. Number and frequency of peaks of PGF2α were not different in plasma from left and right UBOV among nonpregnant ewes on days 7 and 13 or among pregnant and nonpregnant ewes on day 15 postestrus. It is concluded that prevention of luteolysis in the pregnant ewe cannot be explained entirely by changes in patterns of concentrations of PGF2α or its primary metabolites in uterine venous plasma. Copyright © 1977. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1977 by American Society of Animal Science.