Investigations on the vaginal temperature, cycle stages, and steroid hormone concentrations during the breeding season in camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Vet World Vol.14 May-2021 Article-6

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(5): 1102-1108

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.1102-1108

Ragab H. Mohamed¹, Amal M. Abo El-Maaty², Rasha S. Mohamed³, Axel Wehrend⁴, Fatma Ali⁵, and Hassan A. Hussein⁶

1. Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt.
2. Department of Animal Reproduction and Artificial Insemination, Veterinary Research Division, National Research Centre, Tahrir St., Dokki 12622, Cairo, Egypt.
3. Department of Animal Health, Animal and Poultry Production Division, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.
4. Clinic of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Andrology of Large and Small Animals with a Veterinary Ambulance, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
5. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt.
6. Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, 71526 Assiut, Egypt.

Background and Aim: Estrus detection plays a crucial role in the success of animal reproduction. It was previously reported that body temperature changes during estrus. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between vaginal temperatures (VTs) measured by a data logger, ovarian activity, and hormonal cyclic changes in camels.

Materials and Methods: Six mature, healthy, non-pregnant dromedary, and 10-12-year-old camels were included in the study. The ovarian activity was monitored with ultrasonography, and estrus behavior was evaluated using an active and virile male camel. Animals were inserted with a blank controlled internal drug release device attached with an intravaginal data logger. Every hour, the ambient temperature was recorded by another data logger. Blood samples were collected, and sera were used to measure estradiol and progesterone levels.

Results: The whole follicular cycle lasted 25.41±1.36 days, and the maximum sizes of the dominant follicle in the first and second follicular waves were 1.63±0.27 cm and 1.94±0.42 cm, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between the follicular diameter and estradiol-17β level (p<0.01, r=0.397). There was no correlation between the follicular diameter and progesterone level (p>0.05, r=0.038), which remained low during the whole period of the experiment. The mean daily VT was significantly correlated with the diameter of the dominant follicle (1.7-2.2 cm, p<0.01, r=0.52).

Conclusion: Measurement of VT will improve the accuracy of estrus prediction. Further studies are recommended to validate VT in camel reproduction. Keywords: data logger, dromedary camels, estrus detection, follicular waves, ovarian hormones, vaginal temperature.

Keywords: data logger, dromedary camels, estrus detection, follicular waves, ovarian hormones, vaginal temperature.

How to cite this article: Mohamed RH, El-Maaty AMA, Mohamed RS, Wehrend A, Ali F, Hussein HA (2021) Investigations on the vaginal temperature, cycle stages, and steroid hormone concentrations during the breeding season in camels (Camelus dromedarius), Veterinary World, 14(5): 1102-1108.

Received: 11-12-2020 Accepted: 22-03-2021 Published online: 07-05-2021

Corresponding author: Hassan A. Hussein E-mail: hassansabour69@aun.edu.eg

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.1102-1108

Copyright: Mohamed, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.