The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of bovine pituitary extract (BPE) on increasing the number of offspring per birth and the concentration of steroids (estrogen and progesterone) in the local rabbits. In this study, we used 10 non pregnant rabbits that have given birth and were healthy clinically. All rabbits were randomly divided into two treatment groups, namely control group (K1) and treatment group (K2) where each group consist of five rabbits. The rabbits of K1 group were injected with aquabides for three consecutive days at a doses of 1.0, 0.5 and 0.3 mL each, whereas rabbits K2 were injected with BPE for three consecutive days at a doses of 1.0, 0.5, and 0.3 mL each. After the third injection, rabbits of K1 and K2 groups were mated with male local rabbits. For measurement of steroid hormones concentration using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), blood samples were collected on day 0 (the day when rabbits mated) for estrogen measurement and on day 7 and day 14 for progesterone measurement. Furthermore, pregnancy examination using ultrasound was carried out on the 19th day after rabbits were mated. The average concentration of estrogen on day 0, progesterone concentration on day 7 and 14 of K1 vs K2 gropus were 116.17±10.84 vs 118.46±39.69 pg/mL, 3.72±1.04 vs 10.00±5.30 ng/mL, and 1.01±0.65 vs 11.95±5.38 ng/mL, respectively (P>0.05). Additionaly, the average number of fetuses of K1 and K2 rabbits were 5.20±1,095 and 7.20±2.490, respectively. It can be concluded that the administration of bovine pituitary extract in K2 group tends to increase the concentration of estrogen and progesterone and the number of fetuses in local rabbits.
Novelty Statement | The study is novel as it is a preliminary research on pituitary extract of bovine for superovulation.