IMMUNIZATION OF GOATS AGAINST RECOMBINANT HUMAN INHIBIN ALPHA-SUBUNIT- EFFECTS ON INHIBIN BINDING, MATING-BEHAVIOR, OVARIAN ACTIVITY AND EMBRYO YIELD

Beer goats were superovulated by immunization against the recombinant human inhibin cr-subunit. The immune response to the antigen during th e oestrous season varied greatly between animals, as judged by serum i nhibin binding determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) , A booster injection administered during the anoestrous season elicit ed a prompt and rather uniform response and serum inhibin binding acti vity remained elevated in all goats throughout the remainder of the ex periment. Both during the oestrous and anoestrous season, immunization increased the number of corpora lutea and unovulated follicles. Immun ization shortened cycle length in some animals. The embryo yield from immunized goats during the oestrous and anoestrous season was over thr ee times the number of embryos recovered from control animals, The rec overy rates were 61% and 50%, respectively. Plotting the number of fol licles and corpora lutea observed during the oestrous season against i nhibin binding activity gave a positive correlation, Transfer of embry os recovered from the immunized animals resulted in 41% live births, T hese results indicate that immunization against the recombinant human inhibin alpha-subunit may be a useful alternative to the conventional approach of superovulation.