Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia, Australia.
Reproduction. 2009 Jun;137(6):913-22. doi: 10.1530/REP-08-0471. Epub 2009 Mar 11.
Feral cat populations are a major problem in many urban regions throughout the world, threatening biodiversity. Immunocontraception is considered as an alternative and a more humane means to control overpopulation of pest animals than current methods including trapping, poisoning and shooting. In this study, we evaluate porcine zona pellucida (ZP) polypeptide (55 kDa) and feline ZP A, B and C subunits expressed by plasmid vectors as candidate vaccines against fertility in the female domestic cat. Cats were injected subcutaneously with three doses of the ZP vaccines. Vaccinated cats were compared with naïve cats for ZP-antibody response, ovarian histology and fertility after mating. Vaccination with native porcine ZP 55 kDa polypeptide induced anti-porcine ZP antibodies detected by ELISA. However, these antibodies did not cross-react with feline ZP as assessed by immunohistochemistry and no effect on fertility in vivo was observed after mating. However, vaccination of cats with feline ZPA or feline ZPB+C DNA vectors elicited circulating antibodies specific for feline ZP as assessed by ELISA, with reactivity to native feline ZP in ovarian follicles in situ. Vaccination with feline ZPA and ZPB+C DNA did not elicit changes in ovarian histology. Although sample sizes were small, conception rates in mated females were 25 and 20% in the ZPA and ZPB+C vaccinated groups respectively, compared with 83% in the control group. We conclude that feline ZPA and ZPB+C subunits are potential candidate antigens for immunocontraceptive vaccines in the domestic cat.
在全球许多城市地区，野生猫科动物种群是一个主要问题，威胁着生物多样性。免疫避孕被认为是一种替代方法，也是一种比目前包括诱捕、毒杀和枪杀在内的方法更人道的控制害虫动物过度繁殖的方法。在这项研究中，我们评估了猪透明带（ZP）多肽（55 kDa）和猫 ZP A、B 和 C 亚基作为雌性家猫生育力候选疫苗的表达质粒载体。猫被皮下注射三剂 ZP 疫苗。将接种疫苗的猫与未接种疫苗的猫进行比较，评估 ZP 抗体反应、卵巢组织学和交配后的生育能力。用天然猪 ZP 55 kDa 多肽接种诱导了 ELISA 检测到的抗猪 ZP 抗体。然而，这些抗体不会与猫 ZP 发生交叉反应，如免疫组织化学评估所示，并且在交配后对生育力没有影响。然而，用猫 ZPA 或猫 ZPB+C DNA 载体接种猫会引发针对猫 ZP 的循环抗体，ELISA 评估，原位卵巢卵泡中对天然猫 ZP 有反应性。用猫 ZPA 和 ZPB+C DNA 接种不会引起卵巢组织学的变化。尽管样本量较小，但在接种 ZPA 和 ZPB+C 的雌性中受孕率分别为 25%和 20%，而对照组为 83%。我们得出结论，猫 ZPA 和 ZPB+C 亚基是家猫免疫避孕疫苗的潜在候选抗原。
