Long-Term Infusion of Acylated Ghrelin Blunts LH Surge and Diminishes the Superovulatory Response in Dairy Sheep
Ghrelin, the endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, is released pre-prandially and during periods of negative energy balance, exhibiting anti-fertility properties. In this study, twenty ewes were divided into two groups: a ghrelin-treated group receiving 1.25 μg/kg body weigh...
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2025-06-01
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| author | Ilias Ramouzis Leda Oikonomopoulou Ioannis Nanas Konstantina Stamperna Georgios S. Amiridis Eleni Dovolou |
| author_facet | Ilias Ramouzis Leda Oikonomopoulou Ioannis Nanas Konstantina Stamperna Georgios S. Amiridis Eleni Dovolou |
| author_sort | Ilias Ramouzis |
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| description | Ghrelin, the endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, is released pre-prandially and during periods of negative energy balance, exhibiting anti-fertility properties. In this study, twenty ewes were divided into two groups: a ghrelin-treated group receiving 1.25 μg/kg body weight (BW) of ghrelin per day via mini-pumps for 28 days and an untreated control group. Estrus was synchronized, superovulation was induced with FSH, and embryos and follicular fluid were collected six days post-estrus. Blood samples were taken to measure LH, progesterone, and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations. Results indicated that in treated animals, preovulatory LH surge was weaker, and progesterone levels were lower than in controls. Differences were observed in the superovulatory response and the number of collected embryos, both being higher in controls. While AMH levels did not differ between groups at the beginning of the experiment, they were lower in treated animals at the time of FSH administration. Treated ewes exhibited a reduced number of small follicles, and their follicular fluid contained lower AMH concentrations than the controls. These findings suggest that ghrelin plays a direct role in regulating LH secretion from the pituitary and in controlling ovarian follicle development, highlighting the strong interaction between nutrition and fertility. |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| spelling | doaj-art-a96ab26e43cf4a5994d47ada0140397a2025-08-20T03:26:14ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152025-06-011512176710.3390/ani15121767Long-Term Infusion of Acylated Ghrelin Blunts LH Surge and Diminishes the Superovulatory Response in Dairy SheepIlias Ramouzis0Leda Oikonomopoulou1Ioannis Nanas2Konstantina Stamperna3Georgios S. Amiridis4Eleni Dovolou5Department of Obstetrics & Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Thessaly, 43100 Karditsa, GreeceDepartment of Obstetrics & Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Thessaly, 43100 Karditsa, GreeceDepartment of Obstetrics & Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Thessaly, 43100 Karditsa, GreeceDepartment of Obstetrics & Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Thessaly, 43100 Karditsa, GreeceDepartment of Obstetrics & Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Thessaly, 43100 Karditsa, GreeceLaboratory of Reproduction, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Thessaly, 41334 Larissa, GreeceGhrelin, the endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, is released pre-prandially and during periods of negative energy balance, exhibiting anti-fertility properties. In this study, twenty ewes were divided into two groups: a ghrelin-treated group receiving 1.25 μg/kg body weight (BW) of ghrelin per day via mini-pumps for 28 days and an untreated control group. Estrus was synchronized, superovulation was induced with FSH, and embryos and follicular fluid were collected six days post-estrus. Blood samples were taken to measure LH, progesterone, and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations. Results indicated that in treated animals, preovulatory LH surge was weaker, and progesterone levels were lower than in controls. Differences were observed in the superovulatory response and the number of collected embryos, both being higher in controls. While AMH levels did not differ between groups at the beginning of the experiment, they were lower in treated animals at the time of FSH administration. Treated ewes exhibited a reduced number of small follicles, and their follicular fluid contained lower AMH concentrations than the controls. These findings suggest that ghrelin plays a direct role in regulating LH secretion from the pituitary and in controlling ovarian follicle development, highlighting the strong interaction between nutrition and fertility.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/12/1767ghrelinLHprogesteroneanti-mullerian hormonesuperovulationembryo |
| spellingShingle | Ilias Ramouzis Leda Oikonomopoulou Ioannis Nanas Konstantina Stamperna Georgios S. Amiridis Eleni Dovolou Long-Term Infusion of Acylated Ghrelin Blunts LH Surge and Diminishes the Superovulatory Response in Dairy Sheep Animals ghrelin LH progesterone anti-mullerian hormone superovulation embryo |
| title | Long-Term Infusion of Acylated Ghrelin Blunts LH Surge and Diminishes the Superovulatory Response in Dairy Sheep |
| title_full | Long-Term Infusion of Acylated Ghrelin Blunts LH Surge and Diminishes the Superovulatory Response in Dairy Sheep |
| title_fullStr | Long-Term Infusion of Acylated Ghrelin Blunts LH Surge and Diminishes the Superovulatory Response in Dairy Sheep |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long-Term Infusion of Acylated Ghrelin Blunts LH Surge and Diminishes the Superovulatory Response in Dairy Sheep |
| title_short | Long-Term Infusion of Acylated Ghrelin Blunts LH Surge and Diminishes the Superovulatory Response in Dairy Sheep |
| title_sort | long term infusion of acylated ghrelin blunts lh surge and diminishes the superovulatory response in dairy sheep |
| topic | ghrelin LH progesterone anti-mullerian hormone superovulation embryo |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/12/1767 |
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