Med. Weter. 71 (7), 448-452, 2015
full text
| Kowalik S., Kędzierski W, Kusy R. |
| The effect of the type of parturition on IGF-I concentration in blood serum of cold-blooded mares and their foals |
| Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is a polipeptyde hormone produced mainly by the liver in response to the endocrine growth hormone stimulus, but it is also secreted by multiple tissues for autocrine or paracrine purposes. IGF-I represents one of the most important growth regulators, playing a central role in fetal and neonatal growth. However, the role of IGF-I in the reproductive physiology of horses is still little known. Therefore, the aims of this work were 1) to evaluate the IGF-I serum concentration in mares during the first 4 days after parturition and in their newborn foals during the first 4 days of life, and 2) to determine whether the IGF-I concentration may be influenced by the type of parturition. Two groups of subjects were examined: 7 healthy mares and their foals born by spontaneous parturition (group F), and 10 healthy mares and their foals born by non-spontaneous parturition, requiring medical assistance (group P). From each animal, the first blood samples were collected within 30 min of birth, and then, daily, during 4 days after parturition. The samples were collected once a day at 8.00 a.m. IGF-I was analyzed by the radioimmunoassay method with the IGF-RIA-CT kit (BioSource, Belgium). The results revealed that the mares from the group P had a statistically significantly higher concentration of IGF-I compared with the mares from the group F (90.9±7.02 vs. 40.9±5.94 ng/ml, respectively, p≤0.01). Similarly, the statistically higher values of this factor were found in the foals from the group P than in those from the group F (130±8.59 vs. 83.1±6.56 ng/ml, respectively, p≤0.01). Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between the concentration of IGF-I in the blood serum of mares and their foals on the first day of the study (r = 0.50, p ≤ 0.05). In summary, disturbances in the course of parturition did not have a negative impact on the IGF-I level in either mares or their newborn foals. |
| Key words: foals, IGF-I, infant, mares, parturition, reproduction |