Serum pregnancy-associated glycoprotein profiles during early gestation in Karya and Konya Merino sheep.

BACKGROUND: Reported as being expressed by mono- and binucleate placental cells, pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) are released into the blood circulation from the ruminant placenta. Circulating gestational PAGs levels may differ between sheep breeds. OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed at the close monitoring of the serum PAGs profiles of Karya and Konya Merino sheep during early pregnancy. METHODS: Fifteen Karya and 15 Konya Merino ewes were synchronized by a 12-day treatment with progesterone-impregnated intravaginal sponges. After the sponges were withdrawn, the ewes were administered 400 IU of equine chorionic gonadotropin. The ewes were allowed to mate naturally, and all animals were sampled for blood as of the day of mating (day 0) at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Pregnancy diagnoses were made by transabdominal ultrasonography at week 5. At weeks 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11, blood samples were collected only from the pregnant ewes. The blood samples were centrifuged at 3000 × g, and extracted sera were stored at -20°C until being used for laboratory analyses. Serum PAGs levels were determined with the aid of a commercial PAG-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test originally developed for pregnancy diagnosis in cattle. Differences in the between the PAGs levels throughout pregnancy and the group effect (Karya and Konya Merino) were determined with a two-way mixed analysis of variance. Pairwise comparisons were made using a Bonferroni adjustment. RESULTS: PAGs levels showed a linear increase with the advance of pregnancy in both Karya and Konya Merino sheep. No difference was detected between the breeds for serum PAGs levels. The serum PAGs levels of the pregnant and non-pregnant ewes differed as of the fourth week. CONCLUSION: The serum PAGs levels of the Karya and Konya Merino ewes were similar during the first 11 weeks of gestation, and pregnancy diagnosis could be made based on serum PAGs levels as of the 4th week in both breeds.

Effects of fish oil on methotrexate-induced reproductive damage in rats.

Methotrexate (MTX) is a folic acid antagonist that is commonly used in paediatric and adult oncology to treat a variety of malignancies. Internal organs, including the testis, are severely cytotoxic and genotoxic to MTX. Omega-3, as an antioxidant, has been shown to protect rat testis tissue from injury. The effect of fish oil (FO) on MTX-induced reproductive damage in rats was investigated in this work. The 28 animals were divided into four groups for this purpose (control, FO, MTX, and MTX-FO). On the third day, the MTX group received a single intraperitoneal injection of 20 mg/kg MTX. Furthermore, in the FO and MTX-FO groups, FO was delivered through gavage once daily for 14 days. All animals euthanized under general anaesthesia on the 15th day. TBARS, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase levels were measured biochemically. The Cosentino grading system was utilized for histology. Germ cell thickness and caspase-3 activity were also evaluated. In addition, sperm motility rate, epididymal sperm count, aberrant sperm rate, and sperm vitality were measured to assess sperm quality. Some TBARS levels have increased, but GSH levels decreased significantly in the MTX group. FO reduced TBARS levels while considerably increasing GSH levels. All sperm quality measures were significantly lowered in the MTX group, while FO had a recovery effect. There were no notable variations in histopathology across groups except for germ cell thickness, which reduced considerably in the MTX group and recovered with FO treatment. As a result, FO has been shown to reduce testicular toxicity following MTX treatment in rats.