Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW), Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Nat Commun. 2023 Jun 6;14(1):3140. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38721-0.
Eighty percent of the estimated 600 million domestic cats in the world are free-roaming. These cats typically experience suboptimal welfare and inflict high levels of predation on wildlife. Additionally, euthanasia of healthy animals in overpopulated shelters raises ethical considerations. While surgical sterilization is the mainstay of pet population control, there is a need for efficient, safe, and cost-effective permanent contraception alternatives. Herein, we report evidence that a single intramuscular treatment with an adeno-associated viral vector delivering an anti-Müllerian hormone transgene produces long-term contraception in the domestic cat. Treated females are followed for over two years, during which transgene expression, anti-transgene antibodies, and reproductive hormones are monitored. Mating behavior and reproductive success are measured during two mating studies. Here we show that ectopic expression of anti-Müllerian hormone does not impair sex steroids nor estrous cycling, but prevents breeding-induced ovulation, resulting in safe and durable contraception in the female domestic cat.
世界上估计有 6 亿只家猫中有 80%是自由放养的。这些猫通常福利不佳，对野生动物造成高度捕食压力。此外，过度拥挤的收容所中对健康动物实施安乐死引发了伦理问题。虽然手术绝育是宠物种群控制的主要手段，但需要高效、安全和具有成本效益的永久性避孕替代方法。在此，我们报告了证据，表明单次肌肉内注射携带抗缪勒管激素转基因的腺相关病毒载体可在家猫中产生长期避孕效果。对接受治疗的雌性猫进行了两年多的随访，在此期间监测了转基因表达、抗转基因抗体和生殖激素。在两项交配研究中测量了交配行为和繁殖成功率。在这里，我们表明，抗缪勒管激素的异位表达不会损害性激素或发情周期，但会阻止繁殖诱导的排卵，从而在家猫中实现安全和持久的避孕效果。
