NONINVASIVE DETECTION AND MONITORING OF PREGNANCY AND THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD IN GOELDIS MONKEY (CALLIMICO-GOELDII) USING URINARY PREGNANEDIOL-3-ALPHA-GLUCURONIDE

Pregnanediol-3 alpha-glucuronide (PdG) was measured in the urine of si x Goeldi's monkeys during pregnancy and the postpartum period. A stres s-free, non-invasive urine sampling technique permitted frequent colle ction of urine from members of the breeding group. A comparison of the periovulatory profiles of PdG and estrone conjugates revealed close a greement. The day of ovulation was defined as that immediately precedi ng a 2-4 day period with two consecutive urine samples for which the P dG content was in excess of 0.20 mu/mg Cr and 0.40 mu g/mg Cr, respect ively. In urine samples collected from parturition to the next ovulati on, 70.9% of the PdG-values were below 0.20 mu g/mg Cr, whereas 99.2% of the urinary PdG concentrations measured during pregnancy were great er than this ''threshold concentration.'' A conception cycle was there fore defined as one in which the concentration of urinary PdG remained above 0.20 mu g/mg Cr in all urine samples collected between day 1 an d day 20 after ovulation. Gestation length was 151.5 +/- 1.6 days (mea n +/- SEM, n = 6; range 147-157 days). The postpartum ovulation occurr ed 22.6 +/- 4.7 days (mean +/- SEM, n = 9; range 11-53 days) following birth. With the exception of two non-conception postpartum cycles obs erved in one female, with inter-ovulatory intervals of 26 and 27 days, postpartum ovulation resulted in conception, giving a 77.8% conceptio n rate for nine observed cycles. The simple and rapid radioimmunoassay used in this study requires 5 h from urine collection to the final re sult, hence permitting daily monitoring of a large sample of females. It thus has important potential for conservation breeding programs and for other scientific investigations carried out with this endangered primate species. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.