Behavioral Assessment Reveals GnRH Immunocastration as a Better Alternative to Surgical Castration

文献类型： 外文期刊

第一作者： Lin, Liuxia

作者： Lin, Liuxia;Huang, Amei;Lin, Liuxia;Ma, Jian;Du, Chunmei;Wei, Chen;Gan, Shangquan;Xu, Mengsi;Zang, Yaxin;Gao, Qinghua

作者机构：

关键词： GnRH immunocastration; reproductive suppression; animal welfare; emotion; social interaction; learning and memory

期刊名称：ANIMALS （ 影响因子：2.7； 五年影响因子：3.2 ）

ISSN： 2076-2615

年卷期： 2024 年 14 卷 19 期

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： Simple Summary Surgical castration is a common practice for controlling animal reproduction. However, surgical castration can cause pain and stress and may even lead to psychological harm. As an alternative, GnRH vaccines can lower androgen levels without surgery. In this study, we compared the effects of a newly developed GnRH vaccine and surgical castration in rats. Both methods effectively suppressed sexual behavior, but surgical castration resulted in significant depression and social withdrawal, while the vaccinated rats did not exhibit these behavioral issues. This suggests that GnRH immunocastration may be a more humane method that better aligns with animal welfare standards.Abstract Castration is often employed in animal management for reproductive control. However, it is important to evaluate its impact on animal welfare. In this study, we developed rat models for both surgical (n = 6) and GnRH immunocastration (n = 6) to assess the effects of these castration methods on physiological and behavioral characteristics. The novel GnRH-based vaccine significantly increased serum GnRH antibody levels and drastically reduced testosterone, with the testes shrinking to one-fifth the size of those in the control group, thereby halting spermatogenesis at the secondary spermatocyte stage. Behavioral evaluations demonstrated that sexual behavior was significantly suppressed in both surgically and immunologically castrated groups compared to the control, confirming the effectiveness of both methods. However, psychological tests revealed significant signs of depression and social deficits in the surgically castrated group, whereas the behavior of the GnRH-immunocastrated group did not significantly differ from the control. Furthermore, no significant differences in learning and memory were observed among the three groups in the water maze test. Compared to surgical castration, GnRH immunocastration offers effective results and better animal welfare, providing a more humane alternative for livestock management.

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