Research Article | OPEN ACCESS
Effects of Experimental Fasciola gigantic Infection on Serum Testosterone Profiles in Relationship to Semen Characteristics of Yankasa Ram
1, 3D. Iliyasu, 2N.P. Chiezey, 3J.S. Rwuaan, 3I.U. Ate, 4J.O. Ajanusi, 4O.O. Okubanjo and 2E.K. Bawa
1Ministry of Animal and Fisheries Development, Damaturu, Yobe State
2National Animal Production Research Institute, Shika
3Departmentof Veterinary Theriogenology and Production
4Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
International Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances 2014 5:143-149
Received: March ‎02, ‎2014 | Accepted: April ‎17, ‎2014 | Published: October 20, 2014
Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the effects of Fasciolosis on serum testosterone profiles and semen characteristics of Yankasa rams. Twelve, apparently healthy, Yankasa rams aged 18-24 months were randomly divided into two groups (infected group A and control group B) with seven and five rams, respectively. The rams werekept under intensive management in different pens throughout the study period. Group A rams were inoculated with 800 metacecariae orally and monitored for 12 weeks Post Infection (PI). Clinical signs were manifested 2 weeks PI. Faecal examination revealed Fasciola eggs at week 7 PI in group A. Three mL of blood were collected aseptically via the jugular vein at 30 min interval, weekly between 08:00-9:00am for serum testosterone assay. Testosterone assay was done using ELISA technique. There was significant decrease in testosterone concentration in group A at different time intervals of the weeks of post-infection. The semen analysis showed the lowest mean (±SEM) of semen volume, semen motility, semen concentration, of group A, as (0.01±0.0 mL), (3.6±2.4%), (16.1±4.2%) compared to group B with mean (±SEM) (1.6±0.1 mL), (93.0±1.2%), (440.0±13.0%) at week 7 post- infection, respectively. This study revealed that Fasciolosis has a great impact on sheep mainly by diminishing their reproductive efficiency and rendering infected rams infertile. It is concluded that F. gigantica infectionhad advanced effects on testosterone production and semen quality of Yankasa rams.
Keywords:
Electro ejaculator, semen characteristics and Yankasa ram, testosterone profiles,
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Open Access Policy
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Copyright
The authors have no competing interests.
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ISSN (Online): 2041-2908
ISSN (Print): 2041-2894 |
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