Effects of equine chorionic gonadotropin, human chorionic gonadotropin, and laparoscopic artificial insemination on embryo, endocrine, and luteal characteristics in the domestic cat.

The effects of gonadotropin treatment and laparoscopic artificial insemination (AI) on embryo quality, serum progesterone and estradiol concentrations, and luteal progesterone content were examined in the domestic cat. These data were compared to similar historical data reported for naturally estrual, mated queens. All queens in this study (n = 32) were treated with eCG followed by 1) natural breeding (eCG-NB), 2) NB and hCG (eCG-NB-hCG), 3) NB and a sham AI procedure (eCG-NB-sham AI), or 4) hCG and actual AI (eCG-hCG-AI). Queens ovulating in response to treatment were ovariohysterectomized, and oviducts and uteri were flushed to collect embryos. Ovarian structures were recorded, corpora lutea (CL) were excised and evaluated for progesterone content, and serum was analyzed for estradiol-17beta and progesterone. Follicle and CL numbers ranged from 0 to 28 and 2 to 42 per cat, respectively, and treatment means did not differ (p > or = 0.05) among groups. Embryos were recovered from oviducts and uterine horns in all treatment groups, and recovery ranged from 60-96%. Mean embryo number per queen ranged from 8.2 +/- 2.6 to 23.2 +/- 3.8 and did not differ (p > or = 0.05) among groups. However, the proportions of unfertilized oocytes were greater (p < 0.05) for groups treated with hCG and/or artificially inseminated, and the proportion of blastocysts produced (31 of 107, 29.0%) was lower (p < 0.05) in the eCG-hCG-AI group than for any other treatment (range, 59 of 116 [50.9%] to 67 of 116 [57.8%]). Not all queens in each group produced good-quality embryos (eCG-NB, 5 of 5; eCG-NB-hCG, 5 of 8; eCG-NB-sham AI, 2 of 5; and eCG-hCG-AI, 3 of 6). Serum progesterone and estradiol-17beta, and total luteal progesterone per ovary did not differ (p > or = 0.05) among treatments. Compared to historical controls (naturally estrual, mated queens), eCG-NB queens produced > 4 times as many good-quality embryos and blastocysts. Similarly, eCG-hCG-AI-treated queens produced > 4 times the number of oocytes and embryos, although a high proportion of these were poor quality and did not develop to blastocysts. Together, these results indicate that queens treated with eCG are capable of consistently producing many good-quality embryos, at least half of which develop to blastocysts in culture. These data support the use of eCG in felids and suggest that other factors are responsible for reduced pregnancy success and small litter sizes following assisted reproduction.