CONCENTRATIONS DE LA PROGESTERONE, DES OESTROGENES ET DU CORTISOL DANS LE PLASMA DES VACHES AYANT DONNE NAISSANCE A DES JUMEAUX OU AYANT EU DES RETENTIONS PLACENTAIRES

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Plasma steroids (cortisol, progesterone, estrone and estradiol) were studied during the peripartum period in cows with three different types of parturition: unifoetal normal (VUN), unifoetal with retained placenta (VRP), multifoetal with or without retained placenta (VG). In the control group, cortisol rose gradually from 8 ng/ml on day −7 to 11 ng/ml on the day of parturition and thereafter came back to the level of day −7. In the VRP group, cortisol was slightly lower than in the control on day −7 and it did not vary significantly before or after parturition. In the group of cows with multiple births, where retained placenta was encountered in 3/4 cases, cortisol was much higher than in control animals. Plasma progesterone decreased gradually from 5.5 ng/ml to less than 1 ng/ml on the day of parturition in the control group. In the group VRP and VG, it was significantly higher than in the control on the 2 days before and on the day of parturition. The patterns of estrone and estradiol were similar in the groups VUN and VRP until the first day following parturition, but much higher in the cows giving birth to twins. During the postpartum period, the drop in estrogens was much slower in the VRP and VG groups than in the VUN control group. These results suggest that retention of the placenta is not linked with the plasma concentration of cortisol but rather associated with an increased level of progesterone on the day of parturition and that the slower decrease in estrogen levels after parturition would be the result of the persisting attachment of the foetal membranes.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: