Case Report: Equine Infertility

Equine Infertility

Dr. Shana Buchanan, MBA, Certified in Veterinary Acupuncture, Certified in Veterinary Chiropractic, Veterinary Food Therapist, Certified in Chinese Veterinary Herbs


History

Mare “P” is a 14-year-old Quarter horse that has failed to cycle and become pregnant four out of the five years.  2009 was the first time the mare foaled.  The owner disclosed that the mare always has had a long winter coat during the spring and is under lights.  She is not housed around cycling mares and a teaser stallion is not available for estrus testing.  The mare conceived her only pregnancy after an acupuncture treatment.

Western Examination, Diagnosis, and Treatment

The mare is presumed to have “Cushing’s” or pituitary pars intermedia disorder (PPID).  This condition prevents the mare from cycling as a result of an abnormal.  This condition is recognized as the mare having a long hair coat, not cycling, and infertility.   As a result, the mare’s body is not in sync with the natural cycle of fertility that coincides with the increased spring daylight hours.  The increased daylight hours signals the pituitary to produce increasing amounts of lutenizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) that leads to a normal cycle and ovulation allowing a successful pregnancy to occur.   The Western treatment for this mare’s disorder is to be placed “under lights” to mimic the increased daylight hours observed during the spring and summer, be placed around other cycling mare and a teaser stallion, and be given Altrenogest (Regu-mate).  Altrenogest is a synthetic progesterone that will suppress release of stored LH and FSH in the pituitary.   Although it suppresses the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), it does not suppress the production of the two.  After discontinuing the medication, these increased hormone levels will be released and mares will cycle shortly after discontinuation. This time frame is the most fertile time frame for the mare to conceive. 

Eastern Examination, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Since the owner’s only success with this mare’s fertility concurred with acupuncture, the owner elected to treat this mare with conventional and nonconventional medicine.  The use of acupuncture in reproduction has been documented as an adjunct to help an aging mare to cycle and become pregnant.  The Chinese view conception as a result of pre-heaven, post-heaven, and kidney-essence.  Pre-heaven essence is equivalent to the sperm and ovaries successfully uniting.  Post-heaven essence is equivalent to the nutrition consumed.  Kidney-essence is equivalent to an individual’s constitution.  The goal of acupuncture for this mare is to nurture and strengthen the pre-heaven essence and improve the kidney-essence.  As a result, the mare most likely will become pregnant. 

The best way of strengthening the two essences is to perform acupuncture on the meridians that passes through the reproductive organs and unique acupuncture points that are known to strengthen the uterus and help with conception.  Most of these points lie on the Bladder (BL), Liver (LIV), Kidney (KI), and Spleen (SP) channels.  There are a few extra-ordinary points known to strengthen the reproductive system in general such as Stomach (ST), Small Intestine (SI) and Heart (HT) points.  The following points in the table below were used.  Most of these points were injected with vitamin B12 complex to stimulate the acupuncture points long-term because the mare was being shipped and most likely not able to return for follow-up treatments.  The asterisks (**) indicates the points that were stimulated at each of the three sessions.  The nonasterisks indicate that the point was used once during the three sessions.

Acupuncture Point	Point Function
LI 10	Qi deficiency
LI 11	Tonification point
ST 36  (**)	Xue tonification point
ST 44	Mammary gland tonification
ST 45	Clears heat
SP 1 (**)	Regulates blood
SP 6	Master point for the lower abdomen and urogenital system
SP 9	Drains damp
SP 10 (**)	Regulates estrus
HT 9	Tonification
SI 1	Lactation
BL 10	Tonification of the bladder meridian
BL 16 (**)	Invigorates blood
BL 18 (**)	Regulates liver blood
BL 20 (**)	Dispels and transforms damp
BL 21	Dispels and transforms damp
BL 23 (**)	Nourishes essence
BL 67	Labor
KI 1 (**)	Tonifies yin
KI 3	Infertility
GB 41 (**)	Urogenital disorders
LIV 1 (**)	Urogenital problems
LIV 3 (**)	Promotes LIV Qi flow
LIV 4 (**)	Urogenital problems
LIV 8 (**)	Nourishes liver blood
Bai-Hui (**)	Any rear  end problems
Da-Feng-Men	Sedation
Xue Fu (**)	Ovary point