ergoline and Fetal-Resorption

The purposes of this study were (1) to evaluate the effects of cabergoline (1.65 micrograms kg-1 injected subcutaneously for 5 days) on plasma progesterone concentrations in the pregnant bitch; (2) to assess its clinical value in terminating pregnancy in the bitch, and (3) to evaluate its side effects. Cabergoline, given to pregnant bitches, had an anti-prolactinic action and induced abortion. Plasma progesterone concentrations were reduced to below that value necessary to maintain pregnancy (2 ng ml-1 in all cases when the treatment was given 40 days after the first mating, and in four out of six cases when given from 30 days after mating). Fetal resorption occurred in 75% of cases, without clinical sign other than some vaginal discharge. The efficiency of cabergoline treatment can be monitored by plasma progesterone determination: concentrations < 2 ng ml-1 5 days after the start of treatment indicate success; in the event of failure, another treatment can be started. Ultrasonography was not always useful in predicting abortion, as in some cases this was not preceded by signs of fetal distress. The use of cabergoline as an abortifacient in the bitch appears to be of interest. Its efficacy in the second half of gestation, which is attributable to its antiprolactinic action, has been widely demonstrated and the probable multifactorial regulation of corpus luteum activity during the first half of gestation has suggested that earlier luteolysis could certainly be obtained without any side effects through a multiple approach, using different, mutually potentiating, luteolytic agents.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Abortifacient Agents; Abortion, Induced; Animals; Cabergoline; Corpus Luteum Maintenance; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Dopamine Agents; Ergolines; Female; Fetal Resorption; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Animal; Progesterone; Prolactin

This study in cats compared the effects of a natural prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) and cabergoline, administered on and after day 30 after mating, with regard to the plasma progesterone concentration, the induction of abortion and the side effects of each regimen. PGF2 alpha, through a direct luteolytic action, induced abortion by an abrupt and rapid (24 h) decline in the plasma progesterone concentration. Using doses (2 mg per cat) comparable to the ones selected in a previous study, 100% of abortions (4/4) in cats treated from day 33 of gestation were obtained. Cabergoline (1.65 micrograms kg-1 day-1, administered subcutaneously for 5 days), through its antiprolactinic action induced abortion in 80% (4/5) of the cats treated on day 30 of gestation. The abortion was initiated by means of a reduction in plasma progesterone concentration to < 1 ng ml-1. This reduction was not as rapid (3-4 days), however, as that obtained with PGF2 alpha (24 h). Prostaglandins always induced significant side effects such as nausea, prostration, vomiting and diarrhoea, within 10 min following injection, whereas cabergoline never induced side effects or behavioural disturbances. In addition, cabergoline usually induced abortion through fetal resorption (75% of cases), without any clinical sign other than some vaginal discharge.

Topics: Abortifacient Agents; Abortion, Induced; Animals; Cabergoline; Cats; Dinoprost; Drug Evaluation; Ergolines; Female; Fetal Resorption; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Animal; Progesterone; Prolactin

Topics: Abnormalities, Drug-Induced; Animals; Ergolines; Ergot Alkaloids; Female; Fetal Death; Fetal Resorption; Hot Temperature; Lumbar Vertebrae; Male; Mice; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Ribs; Stress, Physiological; Teratogens; Thoracic Vertebrae