title: Sperm morphology in Estonian and Tori breed stallions.
abstract: The standard procedure for assessing the breeding potential of a stallion includes the parameter total number of spermatozoa classified as morphologically normal. This study investigated sperm morphology of fresh semen in randomly chosen Estonian (E, n = 8) and Tori (T, n = 7) breed stallions with proven fertility. Two ejaculates were examined from each stallion. An aliquot from each ejaculate was fixed in 1 mL formol-saline immediately after collection and examined with phase-contrast microscope at a magnification 1000x for all types of morphological abnormalities. Furthermore smears were prepared and stained according to Williams (carbolfuchsin-eosin) for a more detailed examination of the sperm heads with light microscope at a magnification 1000x. Analysis of variance was applied to the data, and results are presented as LSmeans (+/- SE). One T stallion that had a disturbance in the spermatogenesis and one 22-year-old E stallion were not included in the analyses. The T stallions had on average 57.5 +/- 4.1% and the E-stallions 74.4 +/- 3.8% morphologically normal spermatozoa (p = 0.012). In 4 of 7 T stallions and 7 of 8 E stallions both ejaculates had > 50% morphologically normal spermatozoa. There was a significant difference between breeds in mean percentage of proximal droplets (17.3 +/- 2.7% and 2.9 +/- 2.5% for T and E stallions, respectively; p = 0.003).
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Estonian Agricultural University, Tartu, Estonia. ants.kavak@og.slu.se
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kavak
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lundeheim
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aidnik
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Einarsson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000502:physiology*