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Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 40(4), 2004, pp. 713-724
© Wildlife Disease Association  2004
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GONADOTROPIN-RELEASING HORMONE AGONIST: A NEW APPROACH TO REVERSIBLE CONTRACEPTION IN FEMALE DEER

Dan L. Baker1,7, Margaret A. Wild2, Mary M. Connor3, Harish B. Ravivarapu4, Richard L. Dunn5 and Terry M. Nett6

1 Colorado Division of Wildlife, Research Center, 317 West Prospect, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526, USA
2 National Park Service, Biological Resource Management Division, 1201 Oak Ridge Drive, Suite 200, Fort Collins, Colorado 80525, USA
3 Department of Forestry, Range, and Wildlife Science, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
4 SuperGen, Inc., 1059 Serpentine Lane, Pleasanton, California 94566, USA
5 Atrix Laboratories, Inc., 2579 Midpoint Drive, Fort Collins, Colorado 80525, USA
6 Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
7 Corresponding author (email: dan.baker{at}state.co.us)

Fertility control offers a potential alternative for controlling an abundance of wild ungulate populations where lethal methods are infeasible or unacceptable. A promising nonsteroidal, nonimmunologic approach to reversible contraception consists of agonist of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). We evaluated the effects of the GnRH agonist, leuprolide, on reproduction, the suppression of luteinizing hormone (LH) and progesterone, blood parameters, and reproductive behavior in captive female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) during December 1999 through June 2001. Leuprolide, administered as a controlled release formulation (ATRIGEL®), was 100% effective in preventing pregnancy for one breeding season. Infertility was achieved by suppressing LH levels, which prevented ovulation and the formation of corpus luteum. Treated females regained normal ovarian function and conceived the following breeding season. Leuprolide had no adverse effects on blood chemistry and hematology, body weight dynamics, or the general health of treated females. In contrast to our predictions, leuprolide did not suppress estrous behavior in female deer during the "normal" breeding period, nor did treated females return to normal ovarian function and exhibit reproductive behaviors during the post-breeding period. This prolonged-release leuprolide formulation offers an alternative approach to reversible contraception in female deer that overcomes some of the problems associated with existing technology.

  Key words:  Contraception, GnRH agonist, leuprolide, luteinizing hormone, mule deer, reproductive behavior.




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D. L. Baker, M. A. Wild, M. D. Hussain, R. L. Dunn, and T. M. Nett
EVALUATION OF REMOTELY DELIVERED LEUPROLIDE ACETATE AS A CONTRACEPTIVE AGENT IN FEMALE ELK (CERVUS ELAPHUS NELSONI)
J. Wildl. Dis., October 1, 2005; 41(4): 758 - 767.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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