Mohamed Alaa, Fathi Mohamed, Shamaa Ashraf A, El Shahat K H
Theriogenology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, 12211, Egypt.
Surgery, Anesthesiology and Radiology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, 12211, Egypt.
Vet Res Commun. 2025 May 1;49(3):182. doi: 10.1007/s11259-025-10734-8.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is widely used in regenerative medicine, and the current study aimed to investigate the effects of autologous PRP on semen characteristics, testicular blood flow, and testosterone levels in the treatment of oligozoospermia in dogs. Ten stray male dogs diagnosed with oligozoospermia were included in the study. The dogs were randomly assigned to two groups: Group I, the control group (n = 5), which received no treatment, and Group II, the PRP group (n = 5), which received a single intra-testicular injection of 0.5 mL of autologous PRP into each testicle. Testicular hemodynamics, hormonal and biochemical analysis and semen parameters were assessed for both groups and the examination was extended to 8 weeks. The results demonstrated that dogs treated with PRP showed significantly higher values of End Diastolic Velocity (EDV) and Peak Systolic Velocity (PSV) (P < 0.001) at the 6 to 8 weeks post-injection, compared to baseline (day 0) values. Conversely, the values of Resistance Index (RI) and Pulsatility Index (PI) showed a significant decrease (P < 0.001) in group II from week 2 to week 8. Additionally, PRP treatment led to significant increases in sperm concentration, motility percentage, and the proportion of live and normal spermatozoa (P < 0.001), with maximum values observed at 28 and 60 days post-treatment, compared to day 0. Moreover, serum testosterone and nitric oxide (NO) levels were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in group II and remained elevated through the 8 week following injection, compared to baseline values and group I. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that autologous PRP treatment effectively increases sperm concentration, motility, and normal spermatozoa, improves testicular blood flow, and elevates testosterone and NO levels. These findings suggest that PRP may be a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of oligozoospermia in dogs. Further studies are needed to confirm and expand upon these results.
富血小板血浆（PRP）在再生医学中被广泛应用，当前研究旨在探讨自体PRP对犬少精子症治疗中精液特征、睾丸血流及睾酮水平的影响。本研究纳入了10只被诊断为少精子症的流浪雄性犬。这些犬被随机分为两组：第一组为对照组（n = 5），未接受任何治疗；第二组为PRP组（n = 5），每侧睾丸接受0.5 mL自体PRP的单次睾丸内注射。对两组进行睾丸血流动力学、激素和生化分析以及精液参数评估，并将检查延长至8周。结果表明，与基线（第0天）值相比，PRP治疗的犬在注射后6至8周时舒张末期速度（EDV）和收缩期峰值速度（PSV）显著更高（P < 0.001）。相反，第二组的阻力指数（RI）和搏动指数（PI）值在第2周至第8周时显著降低（P < 0.001）。此外，PRP治疗导致精子浓度、活力百分比以及活精子和正常精子比例显著增加（P < 0.001），与第0天相比，在治疗后28天和60天观察到最大值。而且，与基线值和第一组相比，第二组血清睾酮和一氧化氮（NO）水平显著更高（P < 0.001），并在注射后的8周内一直保持升高。总之，本研究表明自体PRP治疗可有效提高精子浓度、活力和正常精子数量，改善睾丸血流，并提高睾酮和NO水平。这些发现提示PRP可能是治疗犬少精子症的一种有前景的治疗选择。需要进一步研究来证实和扩展这些结果。
