Fertility of a stallion with low sperm motility and a high incidence of an unusual sperm tail defect.
Abstract: At the beginning of the breeding season an eight-year-old standardbred stallion had semen with virtually zero sperm motility and an approximately 90 per cent incidence of midpiece and tail defects. The motility of the sperm improved to 7 per cent when semen was collected daily but its morphology did not improve. Electron microscopy revealed that the defects consisted mainly of a loss of microtubules in the axoneme and of disorganised midpieces. A pregnancy rate of 24 per cent per cycle and 44 per cent for the season was achieved in 32 mares after the insemination of whole ejaculates collected from the stallion frequently. The fertility was much higher than would have been expected from the characteristics of the semen. It is concluded that this sperm defect, reminiscent of the 'Dag defect' in bulls and the defect in T-locus mice, does not render the animal infertile.
Publication Date: 1991-05-11 PubMed ID: 1858272DOI: 10.1136/vr.128.19.449Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The research article investigates the case of an eight-year-old stallion with low sperm motility and a high occurrence of abnormal sperm tail defects. Despite these issues, the stallion managed to achieve surprising fertility rates, suggesting that this specific sperm defect does not result in infertility.
Stallion’s Initial Condition and Sperm Characteristics
- The study begins with an eight-year-old standardbred stallion who started the breeding season with almost zero sperm motility and approximately 90% of its sperm having midpiece and tail defects.
- Even though the motility rate improved to 7% when semen was collected daily, there was no noticeable improvement in the morphology of the sperm.
- The use of electron microscopy revealed that the sperm’s defects primarily consisted of a loss of microtubules in the axoneme and disorganized midpieces.
The Stallion’s Fertility Results
- Despite the high incidence of defects in the stallion’s sperm, there was a 24% pregnancy rate per cycle and a 44% rate for the whole breeding season among the 32 mares.
- The mares were impregnated using whole ejaculates collected frequently from the stallion.
- This actual fertility rate was significantly higher than what was expected given the poor quality of the stallion’s semen.
Conclusions and Implications of the Study
- Based on the observed fertility rates, the study concludes that the specific sperm defect present in the stallion does not render the animal infertile.
- The sperm defect in this case is compared to the ‘Dag defect’ seen in bulls and the defect in T-locus mice. These comparisons suggest that similar anomalies in other species might also not impair fertility as previously assumed.
- This discovery could have significant implications for understanding fertility in both animals and possibly humans, and for developing strategies and interventions that improve the chances of conception despite the presence of sperm defects.
Cite This Article
APA
Hellander JC, Samper JC, Crabo BG.
(1991).
Fertility of a stallion with low sperm motility and a high incidence of an unusual sperm tail defect.
Vet Rec, 128(19), 449-451.
https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.128.19.449 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Veterinary Department, Swedish National Stud, Flyinge, Sweden.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Horse Diseases / etiology
- Horses
- Infertility, Male / etiology
- Infertility, Male / veterinary
- Male
- Microscopy, Electron / veterinary
- Microtubules / ultrastructure
- Sperm Count / veterinary
- Sperm Motility / physiology
- Sperm Tail / ultrastructure
- Spermatozoa / abnormalities
- Spermatozoa / ultrastructure
Citations
This article has been cited 4 times.- Iso-Touru T, Wurmser C, Venhoranta H, Hiltpold M, Savolainen T, Sironen A, Fischer K, Flisikowski K, Fries R, Vicente-Carrillo A, Alvarez-Rodriguez M, Nagy S, Mutikainen M, Peippo J, Taponen J, Sahana G, Guldbrandtsen B, Simonen H, Rodriguez-Martinez H, Andersson M, Pausch H. A splice donor variant in CCDC189 is associated with asthenospermia in Nordic Red dairy cattle. BMC Genomics 2019 Apr 11;20(1):286.
- Joseph A, Shur BD, Ko C, Chambon P, Hess RA. Epididymal hypo-osmolality induces abnormal sperm morphology and function in the estrogen receptor alpha knockout mouse. Biol Reprod 2010 May;82(5):958-67.
- Kavak A, Lundeheim N, Aidnik M, Einarsson S. Sperm morphology in Estonian and Tori breed stallions. Acta Vet Scand 2004;45(1-2):11-8.
- Villaverde AI, Fioratti EG, Ramos RS, Neves RC, Cardoso GS, Landim-Alvarenga FC, Lopes MD. High incidence of 'Dag-like' sperm defect in the domestic cat. J Feline Med Surg 2013 Apr;15(4):317-22.
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