Computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) of the epididymal spermatozoa in dromedary camels suffering from penile and preputial pathological problems

Montaser Elsayed Ali ^1* Min Gao ² Walaa M. Essawi ^3* Ahmed Yassen M. Osman ^3* Mohamed K. Hussein ^3* Mohamed Abdelrahman ⁴ Fatimah A. Al-Saeed ^5* Hassan Hussein ⁴ Yong-bin Liu ^2* Ragab Hassan Mohamed ³

• ¹ Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
• ² State Key Laboratory for Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Animals, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
• ³ Aswan University, Aswan, Aswan, Egypt
• ⁴ Assiut University, Assiut, Asyut, Egypt
• ⁵ King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia

Dromedary camels are the most vulnerable animals to penile and preputial pathology due to the aggressive nature of mating and injuries during transit, which could impair the semen quality. Hence, this study was performed to monitor penile and preputial pathological concerns in male dromedary camels, as well as their impact on epididymal spermatozoa, utilizing computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) and correlation analysis with testosterone concentrations. A total of 60 male camels were checked for penile and preputeal pathological problems in male dromedary camels. The male camels were grouped according to the absence or presence of the affections into the following: (i) camels with normal penis and prepuce. (ii) males with Balanoposthitis, (iii) camels with penile trauma, (iv) camels with prolapsed prepuce, (v) camels with phimosis (vi) camels with penile tumors. The results revealed that there were significant increases in sperm Conc., VCL, BCF, and STR of the epididymal tail semen in camels with prolapsed. There were increases in PR, VCL, VSL, VAP, BCF, and STR in the sperms of group with phimosis but the differences were non statistically significance. Furthermore, the CASA parameters showed an increase with the penile tumor group compared to the normal penis and prepuce group in % PR, VCL, VSL, VAP, BCF, and % STR in the semen epididymal tail. However, the CASA parameters of the epididymal body in group with penile tumor showed a significant increase in vitality, TM, NP, MAD, LIN, VSL, ALH, VAP, BCF, and STR compared to the group with normal penis and prepuce. There were no discernible differences in testosterone concentrations among the groups. There was a negative correlation (p < 0.05, r =0.411-0.459) between testosterone concentration and CASA parameters of the epididymal tail semen in males with penile and preputial pathological condition. In comparison, there were no discernible differences in correlation (p > 0.5, r = 0.074-0.360) between testosterone concentration and CASA parameters of epididymal body and head semen of camels with penile and preputial pathology. In conclusion, semen quality of male dromedary could be affected by the penile and preputial pathological problems while testosterone concentration was not affected.