Strain Variation of Immature Female Rats in Response to Various Superovulatory Hormone Preparations and Routes of Administration

The purpose of this study was to examine the response of rats of different genetic backgrounds to various superovulatory hormonal treatments. Immature Sprague Dawley (SD), FBNF1, and F344 female rats (30 to 35 days of age) were used for this study as representatives of outbred, hybrid, and inbred strains respectively. Animals from each strain were allocated into four groups of hormone treatments as follows: 1) 30 IU pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) intraperitoneally (i.p.) followed 52 h later with 25 IU human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) i.p.; 2) 15 IU PMSG i.p. followed 52 h later with 7.5 IU HCG i.p.; 3) 1.0 IU follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) daily via Alzet mini-pumps for 60 h; and 4) 1.0 IU FSH daily via Alzet mini-pumps for 54 h followed by 10 g luteinizing hormone (LH). The efficacies of the hormone treatments were evaluated using the following criteria: % mated, % ovulated, total oocytes per female, and % fertilized. The % mated of SD rats treated with PMSG(30)+HCG(25) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of animals treated with PMSG(15)+HCG(7.5); in addition, the total oocytes per female was significantly higher (P < 0.05) for SD animals receiving PMSG(30)+HCG(25) than all other treatments. The % ovulated of SD rats was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in response to FSH alone as compared to all other treatments. The % ovulated for FBNF1 rats was significantly greater (P < 0.05) in response to both PMSG+HCG treatments as compared to FSH and FSH+LH. The % ovulated and % fertilized were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in F344 rats treated with FSH alone as compared to all other treatments. F344 rats produced significantly (P < 0.05) more oocytes per female in response to both PMSG+HCG treatments as compared to FSH and FHS+LH. The % ovulated of SD and F344 rats were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of FBNF1 rats in response to FSH and FSH+LH. SD rats produced a significantly greater (P < 0.05) number of oocytes per female than did FBNF1 rats in response to PMSG(30)+HCG(25) and a significantly greater (P < 0.05) number of oocytes per female as compared to those of FBNF1 and F344 rats in response to FSH and FSH+LH. The % fertilized of SD and FBNF1 rats were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of F344 rats in response to PMSG(15)+HCG(7.5). Our study demonstrates that treatment with PMSG+HCG is an effective method of eliciting superovulatory responses according to most criteria examined. We have also shown that outbred (SD) rats generally produced more oocytes per female in response to hormonal stimulation than did inbred and hybrid rats. Our results indicate that different strains of rats have various degrees of hormone sensitivity and response to different superovulation protocols.