Effects of long-acting recombinant porcine FSH on reproductive performance and production efficiency of gilts and weaned sows.

To enhance production efficiency, equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) plays a crucial role in promoting follicular development in the reproductive management of sows; however, eCG is a heterologous protein derived from pregnant mare serum. It is essential to develop and utilize more advantageous alternative products in the reproductive management of sows. In this study, a novel long-acting recombinant porcine FSH (rpFSH-pFc) was used for the first time to promote synchronized estrus in sows. Through dose screening, we found that a combination of 40 μg of rpFSH-pFc and 200 IU of hCG effectively promoted synchronized estrus in gilts. Moreover, this combination could effectively enhance the secretion of estradiol and progesterone in gilts. Subsequently, this combination was applied to synchronize estrus in both gilts and weaned sows. Our results demonstrated that the combination hormone treatment group had a significantly higher number of piglets born alive per litter compared to the control group (12.0 ± 1.9 vs. 10.6 ± 1.7, P < 0.05). Although the treatment group receiving the combination of rpFSH-pFc and hCG exhibited outcomes similar to those of the eCG treatment group, it resulted in a greater total number of piglets in both gilts (192 vs. 176) and weaned sows (531 vs. 481), compared to the eCG treatment group, with equal sample sizes. Taken together, our results revealed that rpFSH-pFc might be an ideal candidate to promote the synchronization of estrus and ovulation in sows and improve the reproductive efficiency of livestock production.