SUPEROVULATION OF GOATS WITH PURIFIED PFSH SUPPLEMENTED WITH DEFINED AMOUNTS OF PLH

The superovulatory response of goats treated with purified pFSH supple mented with 30, 40 or 50% pLH was compared. Sixty-four Beer goat does were synchronized by progestagen-containing ear implant, randomly allo tted to 3 groups and, beginning 2 d before implant removal, treated wi th purified pFSH supplemented with 30, 40 or 50% pLH. Each animal rece ived 16 Armour Units of pFSH administered in 6 descending doses at 12- h intervals. Along with the last 2 injections, the does received 5 mg PGF(2 alpha). Embryos were flushed either surgically or after slaughte r on Day 5 or 6 after the last day of standing estrus. The percentage of animals responding to treatment was not different among groups trea ted with pFSH supplemented with 30, 40 or 50% pLH (76, 71 and 63%, res pectively). The corresponding data for number of ovulations was 11.3 /- 1.6, 16.3 +/- 1.8 and 16.4 +/- 2.6, for number of ova and embryos r ecovered 8.1 +/- 1.9, 12.0 +/- 1.5 and 13.5 +/- 2.9 and for number of transferable embryos 6.6 +/- 1.9, 9.1 +/- 1.5 and 7.1 +/- 2.1 (x +/- S EM). Results confirm the earlier finding of a good response of goats t o pFSH preparations with a high FSH:LH ratio, and, although group diff erences were statistically nonsignificant (P > 0.05), they suggest tha t supplementation with approximately 40% pLH may be close to the optim um.