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Humoral Immune Response to Equine Chorionic Gonadotropin in Ewes: Association with Major Histocompatibility Complex and Interference with Subsequent Fertility¹

^a INRA, Unité Gonadotropines, URA CNRS 1291, Station Physiologie de la Reproduction des Mammifères Domestiques, 37380 Nouzilly, France ^b Sanofi Santé Nutrition Animale, La Ballastière, BP 126, 33501 Libourne Cedex, France ^c INRA, Laboratoire de Génétique Biochimique et de Cytogénétique, Département de Génétique Animale, 78352 Jouy en Josas, France

In dairy ewes, the use of eCG as a convenient hormone for the induction of ovulation is necessary for out-of-season breeding and artificial insemination (AI). In this report we show the presence of anti-eCG antibodies in plasma of treated ewes. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) was involved in the individual variability of the humoral immune responses to eCG. We found significant associations between the anti-eCG response phenotype and some MHC class II alleles. The low immune response phenotype was associated with one MHC class II allele only in Lacaune ewes, and the high immune response phenotype was associated with one MHC class II allele both in Manech and in Lacaune ewes. In herds, the impact of residual anti-eCG antibodies on subsequent fertility after AI seems minimal because of an indirect elimination of high-responder ewes from AI breeding. Therefore, the true magnitude of the association between residual anti-eCG antibody concentration and fertility has been underestimated. An additional experiment without any high-responder female elimination showed a significant correlation between high residual antibody concentrations and lower lambing rate after AI at a fixed time, possibly because of a delayed preovulatory LH surge. The results suggest that anti-eCG antibody concentration is one risk factor for infertility after AI.

¹ This research was supported by funds from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France, and Sanofi Santé Nutrition Animale (SSNA), France. F.R. is recipient of a grant from INRA and SSNA.

² Correspondence: FAX: 33 2 4742–7743; maurel{at}tours.inra.fr

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