Increase of body temperature immediately after ovulation in mares.

Epper, Pascale; Glüge, Stefan; Vidondo, Beatriz; Wróbel, Anna; Ott, Thomas; Sieme, Harald; Kaeser, Rebekka; Burger, Dominik (2023). Increase of body temperature immediately after ovulation in mares. Journal of equine veterinary science, 127, p. 104565. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jevs.2023.104565

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To successfully inseminate mares, precise detection of ovulation time is crucial, especially when using frozen-thawed semen. Monitoring body temperature, as has been described in women, could be a non-invasive way to detect ovulation. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the time of ovulation and the variation of body temperature in mares based on automatic continuous measurements during estrus. The experimental group included 21 mares for 70 analyzed estrous cycles. When the mares showed estrous behavior, they were administered intramuscular deslorelin acetate (2.25 mg) in the evening. At the same time, monitoring of body temperature using a sensor device fixed at the left lateral thorax was started and continued for over 60 h. In 2-hour intervals, transrectal ultrasonography was performed to detect ovulation. Estimated body temperature in the 6 h following ovulation detection was on average 0.06°C +/- 0.05°C (mean +/- SD) significantly higher when compared with body temperature at the same time on the preceding day (p=0.01). In addition, a significant effect of PGF2α administration for estrus induction on the body temperature was found, being significantly higher until 6 h before ovulation compared to that of uninduced cycles (p=0.005). In conclusion, changes in body temperature during estrus in mares were related to ovulation. The increase in body temperature immediately after ovulation might be used in the future to establish automatized and non-invasive systems to detect ovulation. However, the identified temperature rise is relatively small on average and hardly identifiable in the individual mares.

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