Pregnancy rates in mares inseminated with 0.5 or 1 million sperm using hysteroscopic or transrectally guided deep-horn insemination techniques.
Abstract: Placement of sperm deep in the equine uterine horn allows fewer sperm to be inseminated while maintaining acceptable fertility, and has been promoted for use in circumstances when fertility would be expected to be low if standard insemination were used (e.g., semen from a subfertile stallion, or frozen-thawed semen). Two main techniques, transrectally guided (TRG) and hysteroscopic (HYS) insemination, have been developed for this purpose; however, there is some controversy regarding their comparative efficacy. This study was conducted to compare pregnancy rates when mares were inseminated by TRG or HYS, using sperm numbers approaching and under the minimum threshold, resulting in reduced fertility. When 1 × 10(6) sperm were inseminated, pregnancy rates were not different (P > 0.10) between techniques HYS (10/13, 77%) and TRG (11/15, 73%). Similarly, when 0.5 × 10(6) sperm were inseminated, pregnancy rates were not different (P > 0.10) between techniques HYS (3/15, 20%) and TRG (4/13, 31%). Combined pregnancy rates for the two treatments were 13/28 (46%) for HYS and 15/28 (54%) for TRG (P > 0.10). Pregnancy rates using a subthreshold number of sperm were not significantly affected by a deep-horn insemination technique.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2012-06-14 PubMed ID: 22704389DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2012.04.006Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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The research investigates the effectiveness of two deep-horn insemination techniques, hysteroscopic and transrectally guided, in mares with low sperm counts. It concludes that the pregnancy rate is not significantly affected by the insemination technique used, suggesting that less sperm can be used without hindering fertility rates.
Objective of the Research
- The main goal was to explore the efficacy of two methods of equine insemination, hysteroscopic (HYS) and transrectally guided (TRG), specifically when dealing with low sperm count situations.
- The researchers wanted to determine if there was any significant difference in pregnancy rates between the two techniques.
Methods Employed
- A sample of mares received insemination through both HYS and TRG techniques, using different amounts of sperm.
- The first group of mares were inseminated with 1 million sperm, while the second group received only half that number, 0.5 million sperm.
Observations and Findings
- When 1 million sperm were used, there was no significant difference in pregnancy rates between the HYS (77%) and TRG (73%) methods.
- When only 0.5 million sperm were used, again, the pregnancy rates between HYS (20%) and TRG (31%) techniques were not noticeably different.
- The overall combined pregnancy rates for the two treatments were 46% for HYS and 54% for TRG.
Conclusions
- The study concludes that the number of sperm inseminated using a sub-threshold number does not significantly affect pregnancy rates, regardless of the insemination technique used.
- This indicates that even with fewer sperms, satisfactory fertility levels can be achieved, highlighting the effectiveness of deep-horn insemination techniques in mares under conditions of reduced sperm concentration.
Cite This Article
APA
Hayden SS, Blanchard TL, Brinsko SP, Varner DD, Hinrichs K, Love CC.
(2012).
Pregnancy rates in mares inseminated with 0.5 or 1 million sperm using hysteroscopic or transrectally guided deep-horn insemination techniques.
Theriogenology, 78(4), 914-920.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2012.04.006 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA. shelby.hayden@okstate.edu
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Fallopian Tubes / surgery
- Female
- Horses / physiology
- Hysteroscopy / methods
- Hysteroscopy / veterinary
- Insemination, Artificial / methods
- Insemination, Artificial / veterinary
- Male
- Pregnancy
- Pregnancy Rate
- Pregnancy, Animal
- Proctoscopy / methods
- Proctoscopy / veterinary
- Rectum
- Semen Analysis / veterinary
- Sperm Count / veterinary
Citations
This article has been cited 2 times.- Zhang L, Wang X, Jiang C, Sohail T, Sun Y, Sun X, Wang J, Li Y. Effect of Different Dilution Methods and Ratios of Ram Semen on Sperm Parameters after Cryopreservation. Animals (Basel) 2024 Mar 15;14(6).
- Egyptien S, Deleuze S, Ledeck J, Ponthier J. Sperm Quality Assessment in Stallions: How to Choose Relevant Assays to Answer Clinical Questions. Animals (Basel) 2023 Oct 6;13(19).
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