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The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of season on testicular morphometry, on ram body weight, testosterone concentration and on stereological structure of the testes in Ouled Djellalrams. Twenty seven rams were randomly selected and the live weight and testicular size were recorded. At the beginning of each season (autumn, winter, spring), among the study group, three rams were randomly selected, slaughtered and their left testes were removed and weighed. For microscopic study, tissue samples were excised from the left testes, fixed in formalin solution and embedded in paraffin and, afterwards, quantitative evaluation was performed. Statistical analysis revealed that the testicular weight and morphometric parameters of the testes including length, width, thickness and circumference were significantly (p<0.001) higher during the breeding season (autumn). The lowest seminiferous tubule diameter (STD) (167.02±6.74μm) was observed in spring and the highest in autumn (212.12±4.94 μm) (p<0.01). Also, tubular tissue volume and height of the germinal epithelium gradually increased during the spring, with the highest values noticed in autumn (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively). Seminiferous tubule diameter significantly correlated with scrotal circumference (r=0.54 p<0.001) and with Leydig cell number (r=0.54 p<0.001). Mean serum testosterone concentrations were inversely related to interstitium volume (%) (r= -0.40 p<0.05) but positively significantly related to Leydig cell number (r=0.54 p<0.001). Maximal mean serum testosterone concentrations were observed during autumn (7.81±1.2 ng/ml), whereas minimal concentrations were noticed during spring (3.38±0.83ng/ml) (p<0.05). It can be concluded that the morphometric parameters and stereological structure of the testis exhibit seasonal variations in Ouled Djellal rams in Algeria.

DOI

10.56808/2985-1130.3031

First Page

297

Last Page

304

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