Original Scientific Article The present study aimed to determinate the effect of external progesterone (P4) supplementation on luteolysis in cows under heat stress. Forty-eight (n=48) dairy cows in the period from July–September 2018 were part of and at day 35±3 postpartum scored for BSC, synchronized using PG-3-G + Ovsynch protocol and randomly allocated into two treatments: PRID group (n=27) treated with external P4 device between G1 and PGF2α and CON group (n=21) left without treatment. Collection of blood samples to assess P4 concentrations was done at Pre-PG, at G1, at PGF2α, at 72 h after PGF2α (at timed artificial insemination TAI) and at d 21 after TAI. The pregnancy diagnosis was done at d 21 and d 30 after TAI by ultrasound. The average temperature-humidity index (THI) was 79.5±0.6. At G1, the P4 was significantly lower in the PRID group (1.84±0.99 ng/mL) in comparison to the CON group (2.97±1.82 ng/mL). In contrast, at PGF2α, there was a tendency (p=0.09) of increased P4 concentration in PRID group compared with the CON group (4.26±1.68 and 3.74±2.39 ng/mL), respectively. At TAI, more PRID cows (p=0.0001) had a lower P4 (0.06±0.03 ng/mL), in comparison to CON (1.28±2.41 ng/mL). At d 21 and d 30 after TAI, more PRID cows were predicted and diagnosed pregnant (16/27 or 59.25% and 13/27 or 48.14%) compared with the CON group (11/21 or 52.38% and 8/21 or 38.08%) respectively, but without any significant differences. Supplementation of the P4 during the Ovsynch protocol increases the P4 before TAI and reduces the incomplete luteolysis in heat stressed dairy cows. https://macvetrev.mk/LoadArticlePdf/382 2024-3-15 45 50 10.2478/macvetrev-2024-0015 cows heat stress Ovsynch luteolysis PRID Boris Stojanov false 1 Food and Veterinary Agency, Treta Makedonska Brigada 20, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia AUTHOR Branko Atanasov batanasov@fvm.ukim.edu.mk false 2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Lazar Pop-Trajkov 5-7, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia LEAD_AUTHOR Juraj Grizelj false 3 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia AUTHOR Silvijo Vince false 4 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia AUTHOR Ksenija Ilievska false 5 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Lazar Pop-Trajkov 5-7, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia AUTHOR Martin Nikolovski false 6 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Lazar Pop-Trajkov 5-7, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia AUTHOR Toni Dovenski false 7 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Lazar Pop-Trajkov 5-7, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia AUTHOR Marko Samardžija false 8 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia AUTHOR Hansen, P.J. (2011). Managing reproduction during heat stress in dairy cows.In C.A. Risco, P. Melendez Retamal (Eds.) Dairy production medicine, First Edition (pp. 153-164). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470960554.ch13 Wolfenson, D., Roth, Z., Meidan, R. (2000). Impaired reproduction in heat - stressed cattle: basic and applied aspects. Anim Reprod Sci. (60 - 61): 535-547. 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