Hastening Time to Ejaculation in Donkey Jacks Treated with the PGF2α Analog, Cloprostenol Sodium
Duccio Panzani,
Miguel Quaresma,
Diana Fanelli,
Francesco Camillo,
Rebecca Moroni,
Alessandra Rota,
Ana Martins-Bessa,
Miguel Nóvoa,
Jaime Catalán,
Igor F. Canisso,
Giuseppe Conte,
Jordi Mirò
Affiliations
Duccio Panzani
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Pisa, via Livornese 1286, San Piero a Grado, 56122 Pisa (PI), Italy
Miguel Quaresma
Center of Animal and Veterinary Science (CECAV), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Diana Fanelli
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Pisa, via Livornese 1286, San Piero a Grado, 56122 Pisa (PI), Italy
Francesco Camillo
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Pisa, via Livornese 1286, San Piero a Grado, 56122 Pisa (PI), Italy
Rebecca Moroni
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Pisa, via Livornese 1286, San Piero a Grado, 56122 Pisa (PI), Italy
Alessandra Rota
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Pisa, via Livornese 1286, San Piero a Grado, 56122 Pisa (PI), Italy
Ana Martins-Bessa
Center of Animal and Veterinary Science (CECAV), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Miguel Nóvoa
Association for the Study and Protection of Donkeys (AEPGA), Largo da Igreja, 5225-011 Atenor, Portugal
Jaime Catalán
Equine Reproduction Service, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Faculty, Autonomous University of Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Valles, Spain
Igor F. Canisso
Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61802, USA
Giuseppe Conte
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Jordi Mirò
Equine Reproduction Service, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Faculty, Autonomous University of Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Valles, Spain
Due to the long courtship needed to attain excitation and erection, donkey semen collection can take up to 90 min. ProstaglandinF2α (PGF2α) has been reported to hasten the onset of erection and ejaculation in domesticated mammals, presumably by inducing smooth muscle contractions in the internal genitalia. However, while it has been anecdotally used in donkeys, it has yet to be critically evaluated. This study aimed to compare behavioral and semen parameters in Catalan, Balearic, Amiata, and Miranda jacks treated with the PGF2α analogue cloprostenol sodium immediately prior to exposure to an estrus jenny. Nineteen donkeys were assigned in a crossover design to receive cloprostenol sodium (125 µg, i.m.; n = 53 collections) or saline (1 mL, i.m.; n = 53 collections). There were no differences for erection (52/53 vs. 52/53) or ejaculation (52/53 vs. 48/53) for collection attempts assigned to saline or cloprostenol sodium, respectively. Cloprostenol sodium significantly hastened treatment-to-erection and treatment-to-ejaculation times from 12.0 ± 1.6 to 6.0 ± 1.6 min and from 14.0 ± 1.4 to 9.6 ± 1.4 min, respectively. Significant effects of breed and age were observed in behavioral and parameters, but there were no effects of cloprostenol sodium administration on semen parameters. In conclusion, cloprostenol sodium administration immediately prior to semen collection hastened time to collect semen in donkeys with no detrimental effects on semen quality and can be used by practitioners to circumvent long delays in donkey semen collection.
