Effects of oxytocin on the bovine corpus luteum of early pregnancy

Abstract

Oxytocin, at concentrations of 4 and 40 mi.u./ml, significantly enhanced progesterone production by dispersed bovine luteal cells (0.5-4 months of gestation) after incubation for 3 h. The luteotrophic effect of 4 mi.u. oxytocin/ml was comparable to that of 10 i.u. hCG/ml. Higher oxytocin concentration (800 mi.u./ml) markedly inhibited the response of the luteal cells to hCG and may be inhibitory to basal progesterone production. These data provide evidence for an effect of oxytocin on the bovine corpus luteum of early pregnancy.