Physical, histological, endocrinological and steroidogenical evaluation of male cats postnatally exposed to sexual steroids.

GRISOLIA ROMERO MARIELA; FAYA MARCELA; MARCHETTI CYNTHIA; BELLINI, M.J.; BLANCO, PAULA; LOPEZ MERLO, M; GOBELLO CRISTINA

Berlin

Congreso; European Veterinary Society For Small Animals Reproduction; 2019

EVSSAR

Introduction and aim. To test the hypothesis that the administration of sexual steroids during the critical postnatal time window induces an impairment of domestic cat reproductive function (1,2), this study describes the clinical, endocrine, steroidogenical and histological effects of a single, high dose of a time-released androgen and a progestin on domestic male cat reproduction. Secondarily, the clinical safety of these pharmaceutical protocols was also evaluated.Materials and methods. Twenty littermate male kittens were randomly assigned to one of the following treatment groups within the first 24 hours of birth: testosterone enanthate 12.5 mg total dose subcutaneously (TE; n = 8), medroxiprogesterone acetate 10 mg total dose subcutaneously (MA; n = 6), or Placebo: 0.05 ml corn oil subcutaneously injection (PL; n = 6).The cats were behaviorally and physically examined until puberty when they were castrated and placed for adoption. Fecal samples were also collected on weeks 1 to 4, 7 and 10 for testosterone (T) measurement. The testes were processed for histomorphometrical examination and quantification of steroidogenic enzymes as well as androgen receptors (AR) by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Results.In the first 4 weeks, T values were high, basal and intermediate in TE, MA and PL (p0.05). Kittens achieved puberty without differences among groups (190.4 + 24.2 vs. 162.4 + 6.3 vs. 221.7 +23.7 days for TE, MA and PL, respectively; p> 0.05). One MA cat presented unilateral abdominal cryptorchidism and another a unilateral delayed descended testis. None of the animals presented other clinical side effects (p> 0.1).Microscopic assessment revealed that all the males presented normal epididymal sperm motility and morphology. Histological evaluation of the MA (p