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Poor semen quality in Irish wolfhounds: A clinical, hormonal and spermatological study
Author(s) -
Dahlbom M.,
Andersson M.,
Huszenicza G.,
Alanko M.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of small animal practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1748-5827
pISSN - 0022-4510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-5827.1995.tb02809.x
Subject(s) - medicine , semen quality , semen , irish , testosterone (patch) , semen analysis , gynecology , human chorionic gonadotropin , sperm , physiology , hormone , andrology , pregnancy , infertility , biology , philosophy , linguistics , genetics
On the basis of clinical observations, Irish wolfhounds were suspected as being subject to a relatively high incidence of soft testicular consistency and low semen quality. Thirty‐seven Irish wolfhounds and 67 dogs of other breeds (control group) were therefore examined. Conventional andrological studies were performed in both groups, these included libido testing, palpation and measurement of testes and semen evaluation. Semen evaluation was performed both manually and by videomicrographic analysis. Testosterone concentrations were measured both before and after human chorionic gonadotropin challenge in the Irish wolfhounds. The Irish wolfhounds had lower libidos than the control group. More Irish wolfhounds (21‐2 per cent) exhibited low semen quality than the control group (6‐1 per cent). Soft testicular consistency occurred more frequently in Irish wolfhounds (25‐7 per cent) than in the control group (10‐5 per cent). In the control group, bodyweight correlated significantly with total sperm count. Serum testosterone concentration did not correlate with semen quality parameters.