Prostaglandin administration following aglepristone pretreatment accelerates mid-term pregnancy termination in queens

Mid-term pregnancy termination in queens remains clinically challenging due to endocrine adaptations that reduce the efficacy of conventional abortifacient protocols. This study evaluated whether administration of prostaglandin (PG) following pretreatment with aglepristone (AGL) accelerated the onset and completion of abortion in mid-term pregnant queens. Thirty-five queens at 30–38 days of gestation were randomly allocated to five groups: AGL alone, AGL followed by oral misoprostol (MIS; 200 μg/queen) at 24 or 36 h, and AGL followed by subcutaneous cloprostenol (CLO; 5 μg/kg) at 24 or 36 h after the first AGL administration. Abortion outcomes included the time to abortion onset (TAO), time to abortion completion (TAC), abortion duration (AD), abortion induction rate (AIR) and abortion completion rate (ACR). Kaplan–Meier analysis results revealed significant differences between the treatment groups for both time to abortion onset and time to abortion completion (both P<0.001), whereas AIR and ACR did not differ statistically between the groups. No treatment-related adverse effects were observed. Serum progesterone concentrations changed significantly over time, whereas neither the treatment group effect nor the treatment group-by-time interaction was statistically significant. These findings suggest that AGL pretreatment may enhance uterine responsiveness to PG during mid-term pregnancy in queens, facilitating more rapid abortion without compromising safety. From a clinical perspective, CLO administration 24 h after AGL pretreatment appears to be a practical and time-efficient protocol for terminating of mid-term pregnancy in queens.