Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Reproduction - Theriogenology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1519105

Chronic asymptomatic orchitis in dogs alters Sertoli cell number and maturation status

Provisionally accepted
Pauline Rehder Pauline Rehder Eva-Maria Packeiser Eva-Maria Packeiser Hanna Körber Hanna Körber Sandra Goericke-Pesch Sandra Goericke-Pesch *
  • Reproductive Unit - Clinic for Small Animals, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Infertility due to non-obstructive azoospermia is a common diagnosis in infertile male dogs. Chronic asymptomatic orchitis (CAO) has been postulated as a major cause of non-obstructive azoospermia in acquired male canine infertility. Despite severe microenvironmental changes, some resilient spermatogonial stem cells persist in CAO-affected testes. As Sertoli cells play an important role in spermatogenesis and the testicular micromilieu, they represent a new target for CAO potential treatment and consequently deserve further investigation. To investigate Sertoli cell number and maturational status, different markers (Vimentin, Anti-Mullerian-Hormone, AMH, cytokeratin-18, CK 18) were evaluated in healthy and CAO-affected testes at mRNA and protein level. Sertoli cell number was reduced in CAO-affected dogs and Sertoli cells additionally partly returned to an immature status as indicated by expression of AMH and CK18 at mRNA-and protein level. The degree of spermatogenesis disruption matched with the degree of Sertoli cell alterations. The investigation of CAO in this study is limited by the number of samples and the lack of testicular volume measurements, but this does not diminish its importance in terms of new findings. In conclusion, this study identifies alterations of Sertoli cell number and maturation status as a cause or consequence of CAO. The results indicate the need for restoration of Sertoli cell function as a potential therapeutic target for a successful restart of spermatogenesis.

    Keywords: AMH, CK18, Sertoli cell number, chronic asymptomatic orchitis, Infertility, dog

    Received: 29 Oct 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Rehder, Packeiser, Körber and Goericke-Pesch. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sandra Goericke-Pesch, Reproductive Unit - Clinic for Small Animals, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.