Recovery of fertility in quinestrol-treated or diethylstilbestrol-treated mice: Implications for rodent management.
Fertility control is an alternative strategy to traditional culling for the management of rodent pests. Previous studies have demonstrated that quinestrol is a potential contraceptive for male rodents, but the recovery of fertility in quinestrol-treated rodents has not been evaluated. This study used C57BL/6J mice to evaluate the recovery rate of male fertility after the administration of quinestrol. Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a non-steroid estrogenic compound, was used for comparison. Different groups of mice were treated with 1 mg/kg quinestrol, 1 mg/kg DES, or castor oil separately for 7 days. These mice were then killed on days 8, 22 and 50 respectively. Our results indicated that the weight of epididymides and seminal vesicles decreased significantly on days 8 and 22 in quinestrol/DES-treated mice, with extensive histological changes in the seminiferous tubules. Sperm concentrations in the cauda epididymal fluid were significantly reduced on days 8 and 22 in both quinestrol and DES treatment groups and on day 50 for the DES, but not the quinestrol group. Further analysis revealed that DES-treated mice exhibited a higher proportion of abnormal sperm accumulation in the epididymis, indicating that the normal sperm transportation to the cauda epididymis was blocked. Our results indicate that the anti-fertility effects on male mice given quinestrol were of shorter duration than for those receiving DES at the dose of 1 mg/kg body weight.
State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Ming
M
Liu
State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Rongcan
R
Luo
State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Hao
H
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Guangming
G
Cao
State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yanling
Y
Wang
D000818:Animals; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004822:Epididymis; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009929:Organ Size; D010571:Pest Control; D011800:Quinestrol / Q000494:pharmacology*
D004967:Estrogens; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol; D011800:Quinestrol
diethylstilbestrol; male infertility; quinestrol; recovery of fertility; rodent fertility control