Environmental temperature and relative humidity differently affect the sperm characteristics in Brown Swiss and Belgian Blue bulls

Gloria, Alessia; Candeloro, Luca; Wegher, Laura; Robbe, Domenico; Carluccio, Augusto; Contri, Alberto

doi:10.1007/s00484-021-02184-z

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…When high environmental temperature and humidity overcome the possibility for the animals to maintain their physiological body temperature, the adaptive mechanisms fail, and heat-stress occurs [ 45 ]. These conditions also affect the testes and seminal attributes at any time of spermatogenesis (estimated to last around 60 days in bull) [ 46 , 47 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Factors Affecting the Reproductive Efficiency of Italian Simmental Young Bulls

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Crociati

Urli

et al. 2022

Animals

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The objectives of the study aimed to evaluate the effect of weather conditions and scrotal circumference (SC) on standard semen characteristics of Italian Simmental young bulls (n = 577), all raised in the same performance station and sampled by the artificial vagina (AV) method. Considering the increasing SC, the results showed a significant increase in quantitative semen parameters (p < 0.05 and p < 0.0001, for sperm concentration and total number of spermatozoa, respectively); for every extra centimeter of SC, 17.5 × 106 spermatozoa/mL and 0.102 × 109 of total spermatozoa were produced. The age of the animal at semen collection (395 and 465 days) had similar positive effects. The effect of the average temperature humidity index (THI limits ≤40 and ≥70) in the previous 60, 30, and 10 days before the semen collection was also considered. Sixty days before the semen collection, the increasing THI increased both primary (p < 0.0001) and secondary (p < 0.0001) abnormalities while the percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa decreased (p < 0.0001). Thirty and ten days before collection, the same effect on morphological traits was maintained, but total and progressive motility was also influenced (p < 0.01) with an unexpected increasing pattern. Thus, environmental conditions can influence semen quality during the entire spermatogenesis and results can guide future research on this breed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Factors Affecting the Reproductive Efficiency of Italian Simmental Young Bulls

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Crociati

Urli

et al. 2022

Animals

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“…In this regard, and although selecting sires on the basis of their artificial insemination outcomes appears to be the best approach, it is obvious that it is not an efficient way of choosing animals, because: a) it is time consuming, and b) when reproductive data are available, the animal is older, and age is known to be detrimental on sperm quality [ 62 ]. In addition, it is well known that sperm functional parameters may change in relation to the season when semen is collected [ 63 , 64 ], and this may generate a bias between samples used for sperm quality analysis and those used for fertilization. In our study, we could not obtain samples throughout the year, but we conducted analyses in pools of three ejaculates collected in 5-week periods, ensuring that each pool contained ejaculates obtained in at least two seasons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of double- and single-stranded DNA breaks in bovine sperm is predictive of their fertilizing capacity

Ribas-Maynou

Delgado-Bermúdez

Mateo‐Otero

et al. 2022

J Animal Sci Biotechnol

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Background The analysis of chromatin integrity has become an important determinant of sperm quality. In frozen-thawed bovine sperm, neither the sequence of post-thaw injury events nor the dynamics of different types of sperm DNA breaks are well understood. The aim of the present work was to describe such sperm degradation aftermath focusing on DNA damage dynamics, and to assess if this parameter can predict pregnancy rates in cattle. Results A total of 75 cryopreserved ejaculates from 25 Holstein bulls were evaluated at two post-thawing periods (0-2 h and 2-4 h), analyzing global and double-stranded DNA damage through alkaline and neutral Comet assays, chromatin deprotamination and decondensation, sperm motility, viability, acrosomal status, and intracellular levels of total ROS, superoxides and calcium. Insemination of 59,605 females was conducted using sperm from the same bulls, thus obtaining the non-return to estrus rates after 90 d (NRR). Results showed an increased rate of double-stranded breaks in the first period (0-2 h: 1.29 ± 1.01%/h vs. 2-4 h: 0.13 ± 1.37%/h; P < 0.01), whereas the rate of sperm with moderate + high single-stranded breaks was higher in the second period (0-2 h: 3.52 ± 7.77 %/h vs. 2-4h: 21.06 ± 11.69 %/h; P < 0.0001). Regarding sperm physiology, viability decrease rate was different between the two periods (0-2 h: − 4.49 ± 1.79%/h vs. 2-4 h: − 2.50 ± 3.39%/h; P = 0.032), but the progressive motility decrease rate was constant throughout post-thawing incubation (0-2 h: − 4.70 ± 3.42%/h vs. 2-4 h: − 1.89 ± 2.97%/h; P > 0.05). Finally, whereas no correlations between bull fertility and any dynamic parameter were found, there were correlations between the NRR and the basal percentage of highly-damaged sperm assessed with the alkaline Comet ( Rs = − 0.563, P = 0.003), between NRR and basal progressive motility ( Rs = 0.511, P = 0.009), and between NRR and sperm with high ROS at 4 h post-thaw ( Rs = 0.564, P = 0.003). Conclusion The statistically significant correlations found between intracellular ROS, sperm viability, sperm motility, DNA damage and chromatin deprotamination suggested a sequence of events all driven by oxidative stress, where viability and motility would be affected first and sperm chromatin would be altered at a later stage, thus suggesting that bovine sperm should be used for fertilization within 2 h post-thaw. Fertility correlations supported that the assessment of global DNA damage through the Comet assay may help predict bull fertility. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40104-022-00754-8.

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“…It was observed in bulls exposed to high ambient temperatures (40 • C), lower sperm quality, in other words, a reduction in the percentage of motile sperm and an increase in the percentage of abnormal sperm (142)(143)(144).…”

Section: Consequences Of Increased Testicular Temperature Due To Clim...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal welfare and effects of per-female stress on male and cattle reproduction—A review

Silva

Camargo-Júnior

et al. 2023

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Thermal stress causes severe effects on the wellbeing and reproduction of cattle, including changes in oogenesis and spermatogenesis, generating great concerns, which last for decades. In cattle, the occurrence of thermal stress is associated with a reduction in the production of spermatozoids and ovarian follicles, in addition to the increase of major and minor defects in gametes or in their intermediate stages. In bovine females able to reproduce, a reduction in the rate of estrus manifestation and an increase in embryonic mortality has been observed. Therefore, keeping animals on good welfare conditions, with water supply and in shaded areas can favor the improvement of different reproductive parameters. For all this, the present study aimed to gather, synthesize and argue recent studies related to animal welfare, focusing on the effects of thermal stress on the reproduction of cattle, aiming to support possible strategies to mitigate the harmful effects of thermal stress in this species.

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Environmental temperature and relative humidity differently affect the sperm characteristics in Brown Swiss and Belgian Blue bulls

Cited by 6 publications

References 45 publications

Environmental Factors Affecting the Reproductive Efficiency of Italian Simmental Young Bulls

Environmental Factors Affecting the Reproductive Efficiency of Italian Simmental Young Bulls

Determination of double- and single-stranded DNA breaks in bovine sperm is predictive of their fertilizing capacity

Animal welfare and effects of per-female stress on male and cattle reproduction—A review

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