Influence of temperature on the quality of sperm from synthetic strain rabbits

Abstract

The harmful effects of hyperthermia on testes and secondary sexual characteristics are not well understood. Our aim was to study the effect of temperature on the quality of rabbit semen. The experiment was carried out on 40 male rabbits of the ITELV 2006 synthetic strain. The rabbits were divided into two experimental batches that were exposed to two different temperatures, from 18 to 20°C for the first batch, and from 33 to 35°C for the second. During the experimental period, which lasted from the end of May to the beginning of July 2022, two successive ejaculates, spaced 10 minutes apart, were collected from each male and evaluated once a week. Weekly libido measurements also were taken. The rabbits responded well to solicitation, providing a 100% useful harvest rate. Seed analysis showed a significant difference between the two batches for all parameters studied (p < 0.05). The first batch produced a higher volume of sperm, with an average of 0.480 ± 0.106 ml, and a higher concentration of spermatozoa (spz), with an average of 462.797 ± 55.376 × 106 spz/ml. In comparison, the second batch had an average volume of 0.448 ± 0.115 ml and an average concentration of 409.745 ± 69.003 × 106 spz/ml. In terms of mass motility and individual motility, the averages recorded were respectively 5.058 ± 0.631 and 3.979 ± 0.957 for the first batch, and 3.246 ± 0.527 and 2.746 ± 0.769 for the second batch. The study shows that rearing temperature has a major effect on sperm quality.