Treatment of male mice with gonadotropins to improve the fertilization rate and reproduction

Abstract

The possibility of modifying the genome in mice has led to an exponential increase in the number of strains that have been developed for biomedical research. This will continue during the next few decades because international programmes plan to develop genetically-modified strains for every known mouse gene. Due to our own experiences and that of colleagues we know that the reproductive performance of many of these modified stains is impeded, despite that the modification is independent from genes that control reproduction. In some cases the spermatogenesis might be disturbed. The reason presumably lies in a defective endocrine function of the testes. This can cause reduced and/or abnormal sperm production. In livestock as well as in humans these disorders can be treated with gonadotropins. One treatment period lasts for the duration of spermatogenesis of the respective species. Up to now, nothing is known about such treatments in laboratory mice to restore or increase reproduction of genetically-modified strains. Spermatogenesis in the mouse lasts approximately 35 days. Therefore, we treated sexually mature male mice of C57BL/6 and BALB/c strains with gonadotropins for this period. The aim of this study was to test the principle suitability of such treatment for the improvement of sperm count, sperm motility, fertilization ability and reproduction.

Brucella abortus RB51 ΔleuB expressing Salmonella FliC conjugated gonadotropins reduces mouse fetal numbers: A possible feral swine brucellosis immunocontraceptive vaccine

“…Testicular volumes and weights are good prognostic indicators of fertility, and the vaccinated males in this study prognostically had lower fertility compared to PBS control mice. The PBS control mice in this study had fertility characteristics that fall within the normal parameters of BALB/c male mice reported in the literature [14,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26].…”

“…Non-viable fetuses per litter are reported on average between 1 and 2 fetuses [19]. The epididymal sperm concentrations in male BALB/c mice have been reported to be between 15.5 Â 10 3 AE 4.4 and 7.67 Â 10 6 AE 1.41 sperm/mL at around 80 days of age [20,21,22,23]. BALB/c males have been reported to have testes weighing between 90mg and 212mg [18,26].…”

Effects of aqueous and hydro-alcoholic extracts of Seidlitzia rosmarinus on male mouse reproductive system: An experimental study

“…The present study results showed that the aqueous extract of Seidlitzia rosmarinus decreased plasma level of LH and testosterone while both extracts increase the plasma level of FSH that was characterized by an increase in sperm count of the mice treated with aqueous and hydro-alcoholic extracts of Seidlitzia rosmarinus. Gonadotropins, such as FSH, in addition to their importance for ovary function they are necessary for normal testis activities such as spermatogenesis (Glage et al, 2013). For example, O'Shaughnessy (2010) demonstrated that FSH stimulates the spermatogenesis process via an increase in spermatogonial number and entry into meiosis.…”