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Regulation of Reproductive Function, Fertility and Infertility in Female and...
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Regulation of Reproductive Function, Fertility and Infertility in Female and Male Dogs

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Reproduction".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2022) | Viewed by 5464

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Orsolya Balogh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, 215 Duck Pond Dr, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Interests: canine parturition; uterine inertia; reproductive endocrinology; obesity; metabolic hormones; canine infertility; reproductive ultrasound
Dr. Aykut Gram

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Erciyes University, Talas/Kayseri, Turkey
Interests: corpus luteum; luteal angiogenesis; placenta; parturition; reproductive endocrinology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit an original research manuscript or comprehensive review for this Special Issue, “Regulation of Reproductive Function, Fertility and Infertility in Female and Male Dogs”, in Animals, an international and interdisciplinary scholarly open access journal. The aim of this Special Issue is to compile the latest information on normal reproductive physiology, endocrinology, fertility, and infertility in female and male domestic dogs.

Reproduction and fertility in male and female domestic mammalian species and humans have long been the focus of basic scientific and clinical research interest due to their impact on species survival and passing of genetic material to future generations. However, when compared to other domestic animals, the reproductive physiology of Canis lupus familiaris is unique. Only dogs show an extended anestrus period between two estrus cycles. Their corpus luteum, a small temporary endocrine gland in the ovary, is the only source of progesterone in both pregnant and non-pregnant bitches and is fully responsible for pregnancy maintenance, because the canine placenta is devoid of steroid hormone production. Due to the similarities of testicular physiology and spermatogenesis, the dog is also an important animal model to study fertility and infertility problems in humans.

While our knowledge has expanded tremendously in recent years thanks to the incorporation of molecular biology techniques into canine reproductive research, we are still far from completely understanding the regulatory mechanisms driving ovarian, uterine, placental, and testicular functions in dogs. A largely unexplored area is canine female and male infertility, with basic and clinical research advances being made every day.

The scope of this Special Issue is canine female and male reproduction with a special focus on ovarian, uterine, placental, and testicular physiology and endocrinology; metabolic and endocrine aspects of pregnancy and parturition; manipulation of the reproductive cycle; molecular and hormonal markers of fertility/reproductive success and infertility; endometritis; spermatogenesis; advanced semen analysis; and artificial insemination.

We invite submissions presenting original basic or clinical research that will make a significant contribution to the field of reproductive physiology, endocrinology, fertility, and infertility in female and male dogs. Comprehensive review articles are also welcome; however, we would like to ask our colleagues to contact the Guest Editors initially when planning a review paper in order to avoid overlapping submissions. All submissions will be peer reviewed and published following “The MDPI Editorial Process”.

We thank you in advance for your contribution!

Dr. Orsolya Balogh
Dr. Aykut Gram
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pregnancy and parturition
  • uterus
  • placenta
  • ovary
  • testis
  • spermatogenesis
  • semen
  • fertility
  • infertility
  • reproductive cycle

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2449 KiB  
Article
The Efficacy of a 3β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Inhibitor for the Termination of Mid-Term Pregnancies in Dogs
by Firdevs Binli, İpek İnan, Fatih Büyükbudak, Aykut Gram, Duygu Kaya, Narin Liman, Selim Aslan, Murat Fındık and Serhan Serhat Ay
Animals 2022, 12(18), 2475; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12182475 - 19 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2173
Abstract
Progesterone (P4) is the only hormone needed to maintain pregnancy in dogs. Therefore, a competitive inhibitor of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) could be a safe and effective option to terminate pregnancy by inhibiting P4 synthesis. To address this hypothesis, we investigated the efficacy of [...] Read more.
Progesterone (P4) is the only hormone needed to maintain pregnancy in dogs. Therefore, a competitive inhibitor of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) could be a safe and effective option to terminate pregnancy by inhibiting P4 synthesis. To address this hypothesis, we investigated the efficacy of trilostane (TRL), a competitive inhibitor of 3β-HSD, in terminating pregnancy in dogs. Twenty-one dogs between days 30 and 38 of pregnancy were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (trilostane (TRL) and aglepristone (AGL)) and an untreated control (CON) group (n = 7 dogs each). Fetal heart rates (FHRs) (measured at 12 h intervals) and serum P4 concentrations (measured at 6 h intervals) were evaluated. The pregnancy termination rates were 0% and 100% in the TRL and AGL groups, respectively. The decrease in the FHR in the TRL and AGL groups was significantly lower than that observed in the CON group. There was a marked decrease in P4 concentrations in the TRL group 6, 54, and 102 h after the initiation of treatment. The luteal expression of StAR appeared to be weaker in the AGL group than the CON group. In conclusion, although a treatment-induced decrease was observed in plasma P4 concentrations, a seven-day TRL treatment alone was not effective in terminating pregnancies. Further studies are needed on the effects of the prolonged administration of TRL with varying doses and frequencies for the termination of mid-term pregnancy in dogs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regulation of Reproductive Function, Fertility and Infertility in Female and Male Dogs)
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19 pages, 20314 KiB  
Article
Testicular Expression of Antioxidant Enzymes and Changes in Response to a Slow-Release Deslorelin Implant (Suprelorin® 4.7 mg) in the Dog
by Duygu Yaman Gram, Brigid Sexton, Narin Liman, Linda Müller, Murat Abay, Aykut Gram and Orsolya Balogh
Animals 2022, 12(18), 2343; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12182343 - 8 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2124
Abstract
Spermatogenesis takes place in a hypoxic environment, and antioxidant enzymes protect germ and somatic cells from free radical-mediated damage. Expression of the antioxidant enzyme system in the canine testis has not yet been investigated. We hypothesized that the slow-release GnRH superagonist deslorelin 4.7 [...] Read more.
Spermatogenesis takes place in a hypoxic environment, and antioxidant enzymes protect germ and somatic cells from free radical-mediated damage. Expression of the antioxidant enzyme system in the canine testis has not yet been investigated. We hypothesized that the slow-release GnRH superagonist deslorelin 4.7 mg implant, which induces temporary reversible suppression of endocrine and germinative testicular function, would affect the testicular expression of antioxidant enzymes compared to untreated adult and prepubertal dogs. The goal of this study was to investigate and compare gene (by qPCR, in whole-tissue homogenates) and protein expression (by immunohistochemistry) of superoxide dismutase (SOD1, SOD2), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx1), and glutathione disulfide reductase (GSR) in the testes of untreated adult (CON, n = 7), prepubertal (PRE, n = 8), and deslorelin-treated (DES, n = 5, 16 weeks after implantation) dogs. We found that in DES dogs, the gene expression of SOD1 was significantly (p < 0.05) lower and GPx1 was higher than in CON, and SOD2 was higher than in PRE. Expression of all, except for the SOD2 mRNA, differed between the CON and PRE dogs. Immunohistochemistry showed distinct cell-specific localization and expression patterns for the antioxidant enzymes in each experimental group. Additionally, in the CON animals, cell-specific SOD1, CAT, and GSR expression was dependent on the stage of the seminiferous epithelium cycle. These findings confirm that members of the antioxidant enzyme system are present in normal adult and prepubertal testis as well as in the deslorelin-treated downregulated adult canine testis, and that this local antioxidant system protects developing germ cells and somatic cells from oxidative damage. Different expression patterns of antioxidant enzymes in various germ cell populations and stages of the seminiferous epithelium cycle may indicate differences in their susceptibility to oxidative stress depending on their developmental and maturation stage. The continued presence of the antioxidant enzymes in the testis of DES dogs offers protection to spermatogonia as well as Sertoli and Leydig cells from oxidative stress during temporary infertility, potentially contributing to ensure the reversibility of suppression and the return of normal spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis after the end of deslorelin treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regulation of Reproductive Function, Fertility and Infertility in Female and Male Dogs)
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