Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
Laboratory of Sheep and Goat Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2022 Nov 2;54(6):369. doi: 10.1007/s11250-022-03348-8.
Castration is frequently used to reduce aggressive behavior and improve the meat quality of animals. Traditionally, surgical and mechanical castration are used to sterilize the animals, but these approaches are associated with a high level of pain, stress, long recovery periods, and post-operative infections. Immunocastration is a new animal-friendly, painless alternative castration technique that is used to prevent undesired sexual behavior, reduce aggressive behavior, prevent unwanted pregnancy, control wildlife populations and wandering species, enhance growth performance, improve meat quality, and treat various sex hormone-dependent disorders. The mechanism of immunocastration includes the immunological block of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG axis) which inhibits gonadotropin secretions, causes atrophy of gonadal tissues, and inhibits gametogenesis, resulting in infertility in both female and male mammals. By the mid-1990s, various immunocastration vaccines have been tested in different animal models to achieve successful castration effects. Recently, genetic immunocastration especially DNA vaccine has gained increasing attention due to its safety, being animal-friendly, and being easy to use. This review aims to evaluate the potential of traditional castration methods, as well as the current status of immunocastration vaccines, their effects, and future prospective.
去势通常用于减少动物的攻击性行为和改善肉质。传统上，手术和机械去势用于对动物进行绝育，但这些方法伴随着高水平的疼痛、应激、较长的恢复期和术后感染。免疫去势是一种新的、对动物友好的、无痛的替代去势技术，用于预防不期望的性行为、减少攻击性行为、预防意外怀孕、控制野生动物种群和游荡物种、提高生长性能、改善肉质和治疗各种与性激素有关的疾病。免疫去势的机制包括下丘脑-垂体-性腺轴（HPG 轴）的免疫阻断，抑制促性腺激素的分泌，导致性腺组织萎缩，并抑制配子发生，从而导致雌性和雄性哺乳动物不育。到 20 世纪 90 年代中期，已经在不同的动物模型中测试了各种免疫去势疫苗，以实现成功的去势效果。最近，由于其安全性、对动物友好和易于使用，遗传免疫去势，特别是 DNA 疫苗，受到了越来越多的关注。本综述旨在评估传统去势方法的潜力，以及免疫去势疫苗的现状、效果和未来前景。
