Changes in blood glucose and plasma lipids during gestation in chinchilla rabbits synchronized with pregnant mare serum gonadotropins

Ten female Chinchilla rabbits with mean weight (1.9±0.1kg) were randomly assigned into two groups comprising of five each, to evaluate the changes in blood glucose and lipid profile during pregnancy. Control Group A was mated without prior synchronization, while rabbits in group B were synchronized with 0.15mg/kg intramuscular injection of PMSG. Three days later, the group B rabbit does were mated naturally and confirmed pregnant seven days post mating using portable ultrasound machine. 5mls of blood was collected from the jugular vein before mating and 7, 14, 21 and 27 days post mating for the determination of blood glucose (GLU), total plasma cholesterol (tChol), triglycerides (TRIG), high density lipoproteins (HDL) and low density lipoproteins (LDL). The data were presented as mean ± standard deviation and compared using analysis of variance for repeated measures. The results of this study showed that GLU decreased significantly (P<0.05) by day 7 and 14 post mating in the control and PMSG synchronized rabbits respectively. Conversely, tChol increased by day 7 post mating and thereafter decreased significantly (P< 0.05) up to day 27 post mating. Both TRIG and LDL were significantly (P<0.05) higher in control rabbits than the PMSG synchronized rabbits on day 7 post mating. However, there were no significant differences in HDL between the two groups of rabbits. In the PMSG synchronized rabbits, the HDL increased up to day 21 post mating and thereafter decreased by day 27 post mating, while in the control rabbit HDL increased up to day 14 post mating and then decreased by day 27 post mating. It was thus concluded that there were significant changes in the blood glucose and lipid profile during different stages of gestation in rabbits and that synchronization with PMSG influenced these changes. Keywords : post-mating, triglycerides, lipoproteins, cholesterol