Changes in Sex Steroids, Gonadotropins, Prolactin, and Inhibin in Pregnant and Nonpregnant Japanese Black Bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus)1

Abstract

We examined changes in the concentrations of serum progesterone (P4), estradiol-17beta (E2), FSH, LH, prolactin (PRL), and inhibin to determine their interaction and their effect on the reproductive endocrine controls of pregnant and nonpregnant female Japanese black bears. Fourteen female bears were used in this study over a 2-yr period. In the first year, six of the bears were divided into two groups; a pseudopregnant group and a nonpregnant group. In the second year, the remaining eight bears were also divided into two groups; a pregnant group and a nonpregnant group. Pregnant and pseudopregnant bears had similar P4 trends with both groups exhibiting a significant increase in December, which is the suspected time of implantation in pregnant bears. These trends correlated with an increase in PRL levels, whereas low levels of LH were maintained throughout the year. Nonpregnant bears maintained low concentrations of P4, and compared with pregnant and pseudopregnant bears, they also exhibited a delayed elevation in PRL. Luteinizing hormone activity varied among individual animals, but regardless of reproductive status, fluctuation patterns of E2, FSH, and inhibin did not differ among bears. Our results suggest that PRL may play a luteotropic role in both pregnant and pseudopregnant bears, and is possibly responsible for inducing reactivation of the dormant corpus luteum that precedes implantation in the Japanese black bear.