Effects of the corpus luteum removal on progesterone, oestradiol-17β and LH in early pregnancy of the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii

Abstract

The quiescent corpus luteum of female tammars was reactivated by removal of the pouch young (RPY). The reactivated corpus luteum was ablated 3 days after RPY. Plasma progesterone and oestradiol concentations were measured by radioimmunoassay in these and in sham-operated controls. Excision of the CL abolished the rise in progesterone seen at Day 5-6 in sham-operated animals (130.7 ± 56.6 vs 452.4 ± 176.0 pg/ml, mean ± s.d.). By contrast, oestradiol-17β values increased within 6-16 h of CL excision to 16.3 ± 6.9 pg/ml and remained high for 1-3 days while in the sham-operated animals there were less sustained and more variable peaks of 10-20 pg/ml between Days 3 and 5 (mean 12.0 ± 3.6 pg/ml at..