Effects of Vaccination against Recombinant FSH or LH Receptor Subunits on Gonadal Development and Functioning Male Rats

Abstract

Luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) play key roles in regulating testosterone secretion and spermatogenesis in male mammals, respectively, and they maintain the fertility of male animals by binding to their corresponding receptors. We designed and prepared a recombinant LH receptor (LHR) subunit vaccine and a recombinant FSH receptor (FSHR) subunit vaccine and used male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats as a model to examine their effects on testicular development, spermatogenesis, and testosterone secretion in prepubertal and pubertal mammals. Both vaccines (LHR-DTT and FSHR-DTT) significantly decreased the serum testosterone level in prepubertal rats (p p p p < 0.05). These results indicate that the FSHR subunit vaccine may be a promising approach for immunocastration, but it still needs improvements in effectiveness.

Keywords

• LHR
• FSHR
• subunit vaccine
• immune castration
• male rat