Assessment of the accuracy of testicular dysfunction detection in male donkey (Equus asinus) with the aid of colour‐spectral Doppler in relation to plasma testosterone and serum nitric oxide levels

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the usefulness of colour and pulsed Doppler modes for the accurate diagnosis of donkeys suffering from subfertility to determine whether testicular vascularity assessment could be an indicator for sperm functionality. The study sample was composed of 10 male donkeys with normospermia (control group) and 10 donkeys with hypospermia. Animals underwent scrotal circumference measurement, testicular Doppler examination, seminal evaluation, blood sampling and hormonal assay. Semen volume and concentration were significantly (p ≤ .05) lower in the subfertile group (30.25 ± 1.22 ml and 89.44 ± 2.55 × 106/ml) as compared with the control group (82.76 ± 1.65 ml and 452.78 ± 1.25 × 106/ml), and total sperm/ejaculation was significantly (p ≤ .05) higher in the normal donkeys (28.30 ± 2.32 × 109/total ejaculated) as compared with the subfertile group. Intratesticular coloured area showed a marked decline in the hypospermic males. There was no significant difference between the two groups in testosterone level, although the normal group showed an increase in nitric oxide metabolites. Both Doppler indices of the three branches of the testicular artery were elevated significantly (p ≤ .05) in abnormal donkeys, whereas Doppler peak systolic and end‐diastolic velocities were increased in the normal group. Male donkeys with subfertility demonstrated lower arterial vascularity parameters in the form of intratesticular coloured area and blood flow rate; therefore, the most optimal parameters for differentiating subfertile hypospermic from normospermic donkeys were found to be the two Doppler indices, velocities parameters, testicular blood flow rate and nitric oxide levels.

Supplemental dietary zinc sulphate and folic acid combination improves testicular volume and haemodynamics, testosterone levels and semen quality in rams under heat stress conditions

“…Ultrasound examinations were performed by the same operator via Doppler scanner equipped with 5 MHz linear‐array probe (EXAGO, France) with angle 45° and brightness 70% (Abdelnaby et al., 2018, 2021; Abouelela et al., 2021). Rams were restrained without sedation.…”

“…The testicular volume was measured using this equation: length (L) × width (W) × height (h) × 0.5236 (Abdelnaby, Emam, et al., 2021; Gouletsou et al., 2008) after obtaining transverse and longitudinal frozen images, while plexus coloration % was measured by pampiniform coloured area/pixels divided by area of the region /pixels as previously examined in the form of corpus luteum in cows (Abdelnaby et al., 2018). The coloured area was outlined by the lasso tool using adobe Photoshop software (Kutzler et al., 2011).…”

Exogenous L-carnitine Administration Ameliorates the Adverse Effects of Heat Stress on Testicular Hemodynamics, Echotexture, and Total Antioxidant Capacity in Rams

“…The positive association between arterial blood flow of the testes and its exocrine (sperm) and endocrine (testosterone hormone) functions has been reported in rams ( 10 , 11 ), goat bucks ( 12 ), donkeys ( 13 ), and stud dogs ( 14 ). The main route through which testis could be enriched with oxygen and nutrients supply is the testicular artery (TA).…”

“…Therefore, any alteration in the testicular blood perfusion affects both spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis, with subsequent loss of fertility ( 15 , 16 ). Spectral Doppler ultrasound is a non-invasive reliable method for an organ function assessment via its blood flow measurement ( 13 , 17 ). The use of testicular blood flow measurement as a potential predictor for male fertility has been applied in many species ( 14 , 18 , 19 ).…”

Testicular haemodynamics, plasma testosterone and oestradiol concentrations, and serum nitric oxide levels in the Egyptian buffalo bull after a single administration of human chorionic gonadotropin

“…The use of tested clinically normal bulls was important in endocrine regulation, testicular reproductive capacity as well as testicular performance in form of vascularity and functionality (Ahmad et al., 2010). Maintaining a consistent and stable supply of arterial vasculature through the supra‐main testicular artery is critical to testicular functionality (Abdelnaby et al., 2021b; Herwig et al., 2004). Several reports on humans (Battaglia et al., 2000; Rizzotto et al, 2018), stallions (Bollwein et al., 2008), donkeys (Abdelnaby et al., 2021b), camels (Kutzler et al., 2011) and Shiba bucks (Samir et al., 2015) have shown a link between plasma testosterone levels, semen quality and testicular haemodynamics.…”