Influence of bipartite scrotum on the thermoregulatory and hemodynamic testicular capacity in male goats

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the bipartition of the scrotum on the thermoregulatory capacity of the goat testicle, testing the hypothesis that bucks with bipartition of the scrotum have minor testicular temperature, greater local hemodynamic capacity, more germ cells and higher sperm production capacity. Eight male goats were used and divided according to the conformation of the scrotum: G1 (n=4) animals with scrotal bipartition below 50%; CG (n=4) control group without scrotal bipartition. All the animals were submitted to the evaluation of rectal temperature and scrotal and body surface thermography. Doppler ultrasonography held at the spermatic cord region was performed. In addition, the animals underwent fine needle aspiration testicular cytology (FNAC) and two ejaculates from each buck were collected. There were no significant differences between G1 and GC for FNAC and for testicular thermography. On the hemodynamics evaluation the IR was higher for the animals with scrotal bipartition than to control group (0.53^a±0.11 and 0.46^b± 0.06; P=0.0108). In conclusion, goats up to 50% of the scrotum bipartition have the same sperm quality than the control group, and the bipartition was not related to more efficiency on the thermoregulation process or number of testicular primordial cells in this study.