[Bovine milk progesterone concentration as a method of early diagnosis of pregnancy (author's transl)].

With the purpose of obtaining an early indicator of pregnancy in bovines, excretion levels of milk progesterone were determined by a simple radioimmunological method. In the pregnant group, progesterone concentration was significantly (p less than 0,001) greater than in non-pregnant ones. In some cases (20-25%) there was no difference in values, resulting a method efficiency of 75-80%. Milk must be processed a few hours after collection since a decrease in progesterone values is observed within a few days. Easy obtention of this biological matherial, without special technical requirements as well as the simple dosification method make this test a practical index for establishing early diagnosis of pregnancy in bovines.