ECE2016 Eposter Presentations Male Reproduction (18 abstracts)
Androgen profiling in males of two high-fertility mouse models does not reveal a distinct phenotype but provides new reference values for androgens in mice
Joachim M Weitzel 1 , Marten Michaelis 1 , Alexander Sobczak 1 , Martina Langhammer 2 , Gerd Nürnberg 2 , Norbert Reinsch 2 , Michaela F Hartmann 3 , Stefan A Wudy 3 & Jennifer Schön 1
1Institut für Fortpflanzungsbiologie, Leibniz-Institut für Nutztierbiologie, Dummerstorf, Germany; 2Institut für Genetik und Biometrie, Leibniz-Institut für Nutztierbiologie, Dummerstorf, Germany; 3Steroid Research & Mass Spectrometry Unit, Zentrum für Kinderheilkunde und Jugendmedizin, Justus Liebig Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
Animal models are valuable tools in fertility research. Worldwide, there are more than 1000 transgenic or knockout mouse models available showing a reproductive phenotype; almost all of them exhibit an infertile or at least subfertile phenotype. By contrast, animal models revealing an improved fertility phenotype are barely described. We developed two outbred mouse models exhibiting a ‘high-fertility’ phenotype. These mouse lines were generated via selection over a time period of more than 40 years and 170 generations. By now both mouse lines doubled the number of offspring as well as the total birth weight per litter.
We performed a two-factorial experiment by mating males and females of the three different genotypes (fertility line #1 (FL1), fertility line #2 (FL2) and control line (ctrl)) in all 9 possible combinations. We observed that increased fertility performance almost completely depended on the genotype of the females. Though not significant, the largest effect has been observed for males of the FL2 line. We noticed that the two independent fertility lines warranted the phenotype ‘high fertility’ using different physiological strategies.
In order to test whether this is reflected by different endocrine concentrations, we measured androgen concentrations in serum of males of the three lines (FL1, FL2, ctrl) using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) method. We measured testosterone concentrations between 5.0 and 6.4 ng/ml with no difference between the lines. We also measured other androgens (4–androstenedione: not detectable (nd) −0.06 ng/ml; dehydroepiandrosterone: nd −0.31 ng/ml; androstenediol: 0.14 to 0.39 ng/ml; dihydrotestosterone: 0.08 to 0.19 ng/ml). These androgen concentrations are at least 10-fold lower compared to testosterone. Since androgen concentrations in the mouse, measured by the “gold standard” GC-MS, are barely described in the literature we have to consider these concentrations as reference values in mice.
Volume 41
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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