Influence of age and seasonality on boar seminal plasma steroids quantification: A preliminary study

Vet World Vol.16 October-2023 Article-18

Research Article

Veterinary World, 16(10): 2150-2157

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.2150-2157

Camilla Aniballi¹, Alberto Elmi¹, Nadia Govoni¹, Tiziana Bulla², Elena Canelli³, Antonio Casalini¹, Maria Laura Bacci¹, and Domenico Ventrella¹

1. Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064, Ozzano dell’Emilia (BO), Italy.
2. Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Belle Arti, 41, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
3. Swine Practitioner, PBA s.r.l., Via Gerole, 1, 26861, Fombio, LO, Italy.

Background and Aim: Seasonal changes, especially temperature and photoperiod, are well-known determining factors of swine reproductive capacity, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effect of age and seasonal variations on boar seminal plasma steroids (dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA], cortisol [CORT], and testosterone [TEST]) over 1 year.

Materials and Methods: Four commercial hybrid adult boars (Large White × Duroc), aged between 12 and 44 months, were repeatedly evaluated at the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences of the University of Bologna. Daily temperature and light hours relating to the collection date were considered for each observation within the four astronomical seasons: Winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Hormones were quantified using radioimmunoassay. The association between seasonal factors and hormone concentrations was evaluated using linear regression models. Univariate models were estimated for each hormone to assess the influence of the independent variables; two multivariate models were assessed to evaluate the effect of temperature and daylight hours, including boar and season factors.

Results: Age significantly affected all analyzed hormones (CORT p < 0.0001; DHEA p < 0.0001; and TEST p < 0.0001). The highest average levels were found for each hormone during summertime, suggesting a positive correlation between steroid concentrations with temperature and light hours.

Conclusion: The results of this study support the hypothesis that the increase in external temperature and light hours is somehow associated with higher levels of steroid concentrations in the seminal plasma of in-housed boars. These findings may help further investigate seasonal fluctuations in reproductive outcomes, which are well-known for porcine species. Keywords: boar, ejaculate, reproduction, seasonal parameters, steroids, swine.

Keywords: boar, ejaculate, reproduction, seasonal parameters, steroids, swine.

How to cite this article: Aniballi C, Elmi A, Govoni N, Bulla T, Canelli E, Casalini A, Bacci ML, and Ventrella D (2023) Influence of age and seasonality on boar seminal plasma steroids quantification: A preliminary study, Veterinary World, 16(10): 2150-2157.

Received: 29-05-2023 Accepted: 21-09-2023 Published online: 21-10-2023

Corresponding author: Alberto Elmi E-mail: alberto.elmi2@unibo.it

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.2150-2157

Copyright: Aniballi, 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.