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This version published online on October 2, 2003
Endocrinology, doi:10.1210/en.2003-0595
A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2004
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Submitted on May 14, 2003
Accepted on September 26, 2003

Anti-eCG antibodies generated in goats treated with eCG for the induction of ovulation modulate the LH and FSH bioactivities of eCG differently

Virginie Hervé1, François Roy1, Jean Bertin1, Florian Guillou1, and Marie-Christine Maurel1*

1 Laboratoire Mécanismes d'Action des Gonadotropines, UMR 6073 INRA /CNRS /Université de Tours, Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction des Mammifcres Domestiques, 37380 Nouzilly, France.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: maurel{at}tours.inra.fr.

In dairy goats, treatments associating a progestogen and the equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) are the easiest way to induce and synchronize estrus and ovulation, and to permit artificial insemination (AI) and/or out-of-season breeding. From the first treatment, injection of eCG induces, in some females, the production of anti-eCG antibodies (Abs) which will interfere with the effectiveness of subsequent treatments. These anti-eCG Abs delay the preovulatory LH surge and the ovulation time, leading to poor fertility of the treated females. Here, by in vitro bioassays, we show that anti-eCG Abs can positively or negatively modulate the LH and/or FSH bioactivities of eCG. Moreover, the modulation level of eCG bioactivity does not depend on the anti-eCG Ab affinity for eCG, as shown by surface plasmon resonance technology. The specificity of anti-eCG Abs tested by competitive ELISA highlighted the importance of a glycan environment in the recognition mechanism, especially the sialic acids specific to eCG. The different effects of anti-eCG Abs on eCG bioactivities could be explained by two hypotheses. First, a steric hindrance preventing the interaction of eCG to its receptors would explain the inhibitory effect of some anti-eCG Abs; second, a conformational change of eCG by anti-eCG Abs could induce an inhibition or a potentiation of the eCG bioactivities. It is significant that these modulations of eCG bioactivities by anti-eCG Abs impact mainly on the FSH bioactivity of eCG, which is essential for ovarian stimulation and subsequent fertility after treatment and AI, and to a lesser extent on the LH bioactivity.


Key words: equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) • immunomodulation • biological activities • goats • anti-eCG antibodies







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