Semen Parameters of Fertile Guinea Pigs (Cavia porcellus) Collected by Transrectal Electroejaculation

Abstract

The guinea pig, as a livestock species, is still developing and growing throughout Peru and neighboring countries, as reflected by its increasing export since 2000. However, the selection of proven fertile males is tedious due to the absence of seminal parameter standards and the lack of safe semen collection techniques. Thus, pregnancy detection or live births are required for males’ selection. The purpose of this study was to describe the qualitative and quantitative semen parameters of fertile guinea pig males, to set reference values, and to validate a novel electroejaculation technique for the species. Semen was collected at weekly intervals from sixteen fertile males. Four transrectal electroejaculations were performed per male with 95% successful collections, yielding 39 viable semen samples. Seminal characteristics were as follows: pH 7.0 ± 0.13; ejaculate volume 0.67 ± 0.55 mL; sperm motility 90.81 ± 6.64%; sperm concentration 36.7 ± 28.41 × 106 sperm/mL; sperm count 20.09 ± 17.56 × 106 sperm/ejaculate; percentage of abnormal morphology 18.26 ± 8.52%; and percentage ubiquitinated spermatozoa 5.57 ± 6.28%. These values will serve as a reference to detect best breeding and infertile males rapidly. The described techniques are reproducible by commercial producers.

Comparative Analysis of piRNA Profiles Helps to Elucidate Cryoinjury Between Giant Panda and Boar Sperm During Cryopreservation

“…Previous studies have reported that electroejaculation may have an impact on semen parameters, increasing semen osmolarity, disrupting plasma membrane integrity, acrosomal damage, and acrosomal exocytosis ( 32 , 33 ). However, the sperm morphology remained within acceptable standards ( 34 ). Compared with the quality parameters of fresh feline ejaculates collected using three different techniques—urethral catheterization after medetomidine administration, electroejaculation, and epididymal slicing after orchiectomy—the highest quality semen parameters were achieved using electroejaculation ( 35 ).…”

Guinea Pig Sperm Morphology and Fertility under Different Photoperiod

“…In spermatozoa from the epididymis, as in this study, Ayala Guanga et al [21] reported 418.0 × 10 6 /mL and 58% motility, Rodríguez et al [22] reported 95% motility, and Ferdinand et al [23] reported 149.85 × 10 6 /mL sperm concentration. Using electroejaculation, the values are generally low, ranging from 36.70 to 47.33 × 10 6 /mL for concentration and 49.49 to 90.86% for individual motility [14,24,25].…”