Effects of a novel recombinant somatostatin DNA vaccination on rat fertility and offspring growth

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the immune effects of a novel somatostatin (SS) DNA vaccine—pVAX- asd-GS/2SS (pGS/2SS), administrated with intramuscular (IM) and subcutaneous (SC) two delivery routes on female rat fertility and offspring growth. Results show that this pGS/2SS DNA vaccine could induce effective  anti-SS immune response in rats (IM group and SC group). The antibody peak of female rats in IM group  occurred later than that in SC group (12th week vs. 10th week), but higher than that in SC group  (OD=1.122±0.273 vs. OD=0.614±0.183). Immunized groups had higher pregnancy rate, litter size, birth  weight of pup and weight gain of pup than the control group (P<0.05). Compared to SC immunization, IM  immunization had better improvement in the pregnancy rate of dam and the weight gain of pup (P<0.05).  However, in litter sizes and birth weight of pups, SC immunization was better than IM immunization. In  conclusion, pGS/2SS as a powerful DNA vaccine improves the fertility of female rats and the growth of pups.

Key words: Somatostatin, DNA vaccine, rat, fertility, pup growth.