anti-müllerian hormone plasma concentration in prepubertal ewe lambs as a predictor of their fertility at a young age她们血液中的抗苗勒氏管激素血浆浓度在青春期前的母羊羊羔预测其生育率在年轻的时候.pdfVIP

Lahoz et al. BMC Veterinary Research 2012, 8:118 /1746-6148/8/118 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Anti-Müllerian hormone plasma concentration in prepubertal ewe lambs as a predictor of their fertility at a young age 1 1* 2 2 1 Belén Lahoz , José L Alabart , Danielle Monniaux , Pascal Mermillod and José Folch Abstract Background: In mammals, the ovarian follicular reserve is highly variable between individuals and impacts strongly on ovarian function and fertility. Nowadays, the best endocrine marker of this reserve in human, mouse and cattle is the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). The objectives of this work were to determine whether AMH could be detected in the plasma of prepubertal ewe lambs and to assess its relationship with their fertility at a young age. Results: Plasma was taken from 76 Rasa Aragonesa ewe lambs at 3.6 months of age for AMH determination. Simultaneously, 600 IU equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) was administered and the number of ovulations recorded 6 days later. AMH was detected in 93% of the lambs, and the concentrations were about 3–4-fold higher in ovulating than in non-ovulating lambs (P 0.004). Ewes aged around 10 months were mated, giving an overall fertility of 29%, and those failing to conceive were mated again 4 months later. Fertility at first mating was significantly correlated with plasma AMH concentration at 3.6 months (Spearman’s ρ = 0.34; P 0.01). To use plasma AMH concentration as a screening test, a value of 97 pg/mL was determined as the optimum cutoff value to predict fertility at first mating (sensitivity = 68.2%; specificity = 72.2%). Fertility at first mating was 34.8 percentage points higher in ewe lambs with an AMH ≥ 97 pg/mL than in those with lower AMH concen