Seasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the Hungarian native donkey

The domestic donkey (Equus asinus) is a long-day, seasonally oestrous (polyoestrous) species, i.e., its reproduction is regulated by an endogenous circannual rhythm, similar to that of the horse (Equus caballus). In this, periodic melatonin production plays a major role, but little is known about it...

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Main Authors: Harmat Levente, Chandran Anushya Nathania, Nagy János, Alpár Alán, Somoskői Bence, Fekete Sándor György, Becskei Zsolt, Gáspárdy András
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Belgrade 2025-01-01
Series:Veterinarski Glasnik
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Online Access:https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-2457/2025/0350-24572500006H.pdf
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author Harmat Levente
Chandran Anushya Nathania
Nagy János
Alpár Alán
Somoskői Bence
Fekete Sándor György
Becskei Zsolt
Gáspárdy András
author_facet Harmat Levente
Chandran Anushya Nathania
Nagy János
Alpár Alán
Somoskői Bence
Fekete Sándor György
Becskei Zsolt
Gáspárdy András
author_sort Harmat Levente
collection DOAJ
description The domestic donkey (Equus asinus) is a long-day, seasonally oestrous (polyoestrous) species, i.e., its reproduction is regulated by an endogenous circannual rhythm, similar to that of the horse (Equus caballus). In this, periodic melatonin production plays a major role, but little is known about its peripheral concentrations in the donkey. According to the authors’ assumption, the cyclicity characteristic of melatonin concentrations inhorses may also be valid for donkeys. The sampling and statistical processing of the melatonin concentration made it possible to determine the nocturnal rhythm for special periods of the year (solstices, equinoxes) from the basic data. Blood samples were taken from 15 jennies during the year, covering the nocturnal half of the 24 h day. Blood plasma melatonin was assessed using the radioimmunoassay method. Corrected values were calculated for statistical processing. The range of corrected blood plasma melatonin concentrations was established as between 10 and 50 pg mL-1. The midnight melatonin concentration (36.6 pg mL-1) was significantly higher than that determined at 06:00 h and 18:00 h (24.6 and 24.1 pg mL-1, respectively; p<0.001). The blood plasma melatonin concentration of 45.2 pg mL-1 at midnight on the winter solstice was the highest value determined under our geographical conditions. This value differed significantly from the melatonin concentrations at both the summer solstice and the spring equinox (34.2 and 30.7 pg mL-1, respectively). However, the winter solstice value (45.2 pg mL-1) did not differ significantly from the autumn solstice value (36.3 pg mL-1). The results usefully expand the sparse pool of data gathered so far about the development of blood plasma melatonin concentration of domestic ass species.
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publisher Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Belgrade
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spelling doaj-art-1a11eebd74cd4ba28de9d3371abd607c2025-08-20T01:51:42ZengFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, BelgradeVeterinarski Glasnik0350-24572406-07712025-01-01791384810.2298/VETGL240909006H0350-24572500006HSeasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the Hungarian native donkeyHarmat Levente0Chandran Anushya Nathania1https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2926-5701Nagy János2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3067-8977Alpár Alán3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4810-0820Somoskői Bence4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8329-5155Fekete Sándor György5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6907-6626Becskei Zsolt6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8724-5892Gáspárdy András7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3805-507XUniversity of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Experimental Farm, Üllő, HungaryUniversity of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Institute for Animal Breeding, Nutrition and Laboratory Animal Science, Budapest, HungaryHungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Game Management Landscape Centre, Bőszénfa, HungarySemmelweis University, Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Budapest, HungaryUniversity of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Department of Obstetrics and Food Animal Medicine Clinic, Budapest, HungaryUniversity of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Institute for Animal Breeding, Nutrition and Laboratory Animal Science, Budapest, HungaryUniversity of Belgrade, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Belgrade, Serbia.University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Institute for Animal Breeding, Nutrition and Laboratory Animal Science, Budapest, HungaryThe domestic donkey (Equus asinus) is a long-day, seasonally oestrous (polyoestrous) species, i.e., its reproduction is regulated by an endogenous circannual rhythm, similar to that of the horse (Equus caballus). In this, periodic melatonin production plays a major role, but little is known about its peripheral concentrations in the donkey. According to the authors’ assumption, the cyclicity characteristic of melatonin concentrations inhorses may also be valid for donkeys. The sampling and statistical processing of the melatonin concentration made it possible to determine the nocturnal rhythm for special periods of the year (solstices, equinoxes) from the basic data. Blood samples were taken from 15 jennies during the year, covering the nocturnal half of the 24 h day. Blood plasma melatonin was assessed using the radioimmunoassay method. Corrected values were calculated for statistical processing. The range of corrected blood plasma melatonin concentrations was established as between 10 and 50 pg mL-1. The midnight melatonin concentration (36.6 pg mL-1) was significantly higher than that determined at 06:00 h and 18:00 h (24.6 and 24.1 pg mL-1, respectively; p<0.001). The blood plasma melatonin concentration of 45.2 pg mL-1 at midnight on the winter solstice was the highest value determined under our geographical conditions. This value differed significantly from the melatonin concentrations at both the summer solstice and the spring equinox (34.2 and 30.7 pg mL-1, respectively). However, the winter solstice value (45.2 pg mL-1) did not differ significantly from the autumn solstice value (36.3 pg mL-1). The results usefully expand the sparse pool of data gathered so far about the development of blood plasma melatonin concentration of domestic ass species.https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-2457/2025/0350-24572500006H.pdfdomestic assnorthern hemisphereplasma melatoninrhythmicity
spellingShingle Harmat Levente
Chandran Anushya Nathania
Nagy János
Alpár Alán
Somoskői Bence
Fekete Sándor György
Becskei Zsolt
Gáspárdy András
Seasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the Hungarian native donkey
Veterinarski Glasnik
domestic ass
northern hemisphere
plasma melatonin
rhythmicity
title Seasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the Hungarian native donkey
title_full Seasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the Hungarian native donkey
title_fullStr Seasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the Hungarian native donkey
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the Hungarian native donkey
title_short Seasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the Hungarian native donkey
title_sort seasonal development of nocturnal blood plasma melatonin concentration in the hungarian native donkey
topic domestic ass
northern hemisphere
plasma melatonin
rhythmicity
url https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-2457/2025/0350-24572500006H.pdf
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