[2], or treatment with estradiol and progesterone [3–6]. Synchronization protocols often involve the use of an intravaginal progesterone-releasing device for 5 to 9 days, PGF2a at the time of device removal,
and treatment with LH, GnRH, or estradiol 24 to 72 hours later to induce ovulation, reviewed in other work [7]Progestin devices have been used for intervals up to 15 days [8] and might be used more than once (with appropriate
treatments to ensure hygiene) to minimize cost. Previously-used intravaginal devices induce sublutealphase
plasma progesterone concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 2 ng/mL [9,10]. Progesterone has a negative feedback effect on LH secretion [11] and subluteal-phase plasma progesterone concentrations resulted in elevated LH pulse-frequency in
cattle [12,13]. The effect of negative feedback on LH secretion
was demonstrated in an earlier study in which
progesterone suppressed the growing phase of the dominant
follicle in a dose-dependent manner [14]. Administration
of exogenous progesterone for 10 days resulted in
lower fertility, possibly caused by maturational changes in
the oocyte before a gonadotropin surge [15]. However,
fertility did not differ between beef heifers in which an
intravaginal progesterone device was in place for 6 versus
3 days [16]. In more recent reports [9,17] in which a previously
used intravaginal progesterone device was in place
for a shorter duration, no adverse effects on fertility were observed. Moreover, preovulatory follicle diameter was
increased when a previously-used device was used [9]. In this regard, there was positive relationship between
ovulatory follicle diameter and fertility [18]. We reported that maintaining subluteal-phase progesterone for a short
interval during follicular growth resulted in an oocyte with improved in vitro fertilization capabilities compared with those growing in a high-progesterone environment [19]. Based on these findings, we propose using subluteal-phase
progesterone concentrations during dominant follicle growth to attain a larger preovulatory follicle and greater
fertility compared with normal luteal progesterone concentrations. Another related aspect of dominant follicle growth in
the preovulatory wave is the progesterone-free interval (i.e., proestrus) between spontaneous luteolysis and onset
of estrus. In natural estrous cycles, the duration of proestrus is 3 to 4 days, whereas induction of ovulation in most fixedtime AI protocols involves administration of an ovulationinducing agent much earlier after progestin device removal; i.e., estradiol at 24 hours, lutropin (pLH) at 48 hours, or GnRH at 48 to 72 hours [20]. Therefore, fixedtime AI protocols usually involve a shortened proestrus interval, with a potential effect on fertility. This notion has
been addressed in a recent synchronization study [21] in
which placement of an intravaginal progesterone device for m 5 days with longer proestrus (72 hours) resulted in an
increased pregnancy rate compared with 7-day placement
with shorter proestrus (60 hours). We hypothesized that: (1) exposure of the growing
dominant follicle to luteal-phase plasma progesterone
concentrations followed by a short duration of proestrus
results in lower fertility than longer proestrus;
and (2) exposure of the growing dominant follicle to
subluteal-phase progesterone concentrations overcomes
the effects of short proestrus. The experiment was
designed to compare the effects of changes in duration of
proestrus and progesterone concentration on follicular
development and fertility after fixed-time AI in beef cows
and heifers.