Augusto Carluccio

• University of Teramo

This study evaluates the impact of dietary supplementation with hemp-based polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on the membrane lipid profiles and reproductive performance of Martina Franca jacks. Over a 90-day period, twelve donkeys were divided into a treatment group receiving hemp oil and a control group on a standard diet. Semen and blood sample...

This report aims to present a case of obstructive azoospermia in a stud stallion diagnosed with an alkaline phosphatase (SPAP) assessment. A 20-year-old Murgese stallion is referred for acquired azoospermia. History is negative for reproductive disorders, and clinical examinations and ultrasonography of internal and external genitalia do not reveal...

Sonoelastography is a rapid and non-invasive ultrasound-based technique to assess tissue elasticity. Interest in this technique’s application in veterinary medicine is progressively increasing, with preliminary reports also available to assess canine testicular parenchyma abnormalities. Since elastographic techniques are different and it is of para...

Objectives The aim of the study was to evaluate the perioperative analgesic effect of a quadratus lumborum (QL) block in queens undergoing ovariectomy. Methods A total of 37 healthy queens admitted for elective ovariectomy were randomised into two groups: control (CTRL, n = 19) and QL block (QL, n = 18). All cats were premedicated with dexmedetomi...

Simple Summary In Equids, twin pregnancy is an unwanted event, and the traditional management of twin pregnancies involves the early, pre-fixation, manual crushing of one embryo before the 16th day after ovulation when the two embryos are still mobile. However, due to the high percentage of natural reduction of one embryo in unilaterally fixed twin...

Simple Summary The Martina Franca (MF) donkey breed primarily inhabits rural areas in the Apulia region of Italy, and, to a lesser extent, small farms in northern and central Italy. This study examined 91 MF donkeys from eight breeding stations in central and southern Italy. We assessed 27 morphological features of the donkey using a tape measure,...

Simple Summary Pain control is challenging in both human and veterinary medicine. The advantages of loco-regional anesthesia are widely known. In the last decade in veterinary medicine, the study of loco-regional interfascial techniques has grown exponentially. The study aims to evaluate the sparing effect on opioid consumption of the Quadratus Lum...

Placental abnormalities more frequently occur during pregnancy of somatic cell clones and may lead to pregnancy loss or dystocia. Adventitious placentation, or diffuse semi-placenta, is determined by the development of areas of accessory placentation between the cotyledons due to the abnormal growth of placentomes. After a full-term pregnancy, a 3-...

Simple Summary The Martina Franca Donkey is an endangered breed for which breeding recovery programs have been started. The animals involved in such projects should be characterized by high fertility, and testicular volume can be indicative of this. The study aimed to identify the most accurate formula for calculating testicular volume. The correla...

Canine prostatic serum esterase (CPSE) is considered a useful tool to identify prostate disorders in dogs, with increasing interest in ultrasound (US)-based sonoelastography to non-invasively detect prostate disorders. Since no report is available about a possible correlation between these diagnostic tools, we aimed to investigate a possible correl...

Simple Summary Horse misbehavior is a common complaint from owners. Among these, estrus-related causes are common. Finding the specific underlying cause is not easy, nor is treating it. Clinical records of horses referred for laparoscopic ovariectomy for unwanted behavior were retrospectively reviewed and their owners were interviewed to determine...

Simple Summary A 3-year-old Main Coon female cat was referred for recurrent pyometra, previously treated with aglepristone and cloprostenol. Due to its high reproductive value, ovariohysterectomy was not an option so, being the medical treatment ineffective, a uterine drainage and flushing were performed. Under general anesthesia, the patient under...

Simple Summary Both in human medicine and in the veterinary field, lipidomic techniques have been applied extensively in order to evaluate health status. In equine species where the subject of focus is the fertility and sperm quality of the equids, lipidomic assessment can be a useful tool to better understand the metabolic transformation of the fa...

Simple Summary During the proestral–estral phase of the canine cycle, estrogens may cause exaggerated vaginal hyperplasia that can protrude through the vulvar lips. The present study aims to describe the management of vaginal hyperplasia in bitches by Bühner vulvar suture. Fourteen bitches with a complete protrusion of vaginal mucosa underwent gene...

In conventional assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), oocytes are in vitro cultured in static conditions. Instead, dynamic systems could better mimic the physiological in vivo environment. In this study, a millifluidic in vitro oocyte maturation (mIVM) system, in a transparent bioreactor integrated with 3D printed supports, was investigated an...

Follicular fluid is formed from the transudation of theca and granulosa cells in the growing follicular antrum. Its main function is to provide an optimal intrafollicular microenvironment to modulate oocyte maturation. The aim of this study was to determine the metabolomic profile of preovulatory follicular fluid (PFF) in jennies. For this purpose,...

Simple Summary An 18-year-old Salernitano stallion was presented for enlargement of the left testicle with no other clinical signs. Sonoelastographic examination showed parenchymal changes with deformation of the normal testis, appearing with an irregular profile. Unilateral orchiectomy was performed. Considering gross, microscopic and immunohistoc...

The Teramana goat is an at-risk breed, needing population protection and programs to increase their numbers. The first step for a population increase is the best management of reproduction, leading to an as high as possible number of healthy and viable kids born. To this purpose, beside the optimization of mating, the best possible management of pr...

Simple Summary In veterinary medicine, the availability of an easy tool for the immediate evaluation of biological fluids’ composition on site is desirable and beneficial as a first-line diagnostic instrument in many instances and in several animal species. The aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of reagent urinary test strips mar...

In donkeys, the use of frozen-thawed sperm for artificial insemination (AI) leads to low fertility rates. Furthermore, donkey sperm produce a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and post-AI inflammation induces the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETosis), which further generates many more ROS. These high ROS levels may indu...

Castration is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in livestock. All methods of castration are associated with a significant degree of pain, affecting the patients’ welfare. Limited information on species-specific protocols in buffaloes is available. Considering the importance of this species and the scarcity of reports availabl...

Seminal plasma (SP) of donkey stallions was evaluated using various oxidative stress parameters as well as protease and protease inhibitor activities. SP was obtained by nine donkey stallions. In addition, one donkey stallion with non-obstructive azoospermia was enrolled in this study. Free radical scavenging activity (FRSA), the ferric reducing ab...

Simple Summary The assessment of a normal postpartum course is pivotal to maximize the likelihood to achieve a new pregnancy, especially in equids. However, postpartum (PP) uterine involution was studied in the horse but, to date, very little is known about the donkey, and many aspects of this fine-tuning reproductive phase remain to be clarified....

During the last decades in Europe and the United States there has been a renewed interest in the use of the mule. This review summarizes the scarce information available in the veterinary literature on the anatomical particularities and shoeing techniques of the mule's hoof that have an important impact on the health and welfare of the animal. Comp...

In a temperature-increasing scenario, due to global warming, the individual thermic resilience of the male assumes a crucial role in the reproductive efficiency of a male since the thermic stress, such as the inability of the male to reduce body or regional temperature on a physiological level, impairs testicular function. In this study, the effect...

Simple Summary Despite the growing interest in donkey’s welfare, there is little scientific evidence in this species about the analgesic effect of the drugs most used in horses. Total intravenous anaesthesia is a valuable option for field surgery such as castration. Moreover, it is often preferred in small donkeys due to the anatomical features of...

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop of endangered and critically endangered breeds has been studied to identify maternal lineages, characterize genetic inheritance, reconstruct phylogenetic relations among breeds, and develop biodiversity conservation and breeding programs. The aim of the study was to determine the variability remaining and the ph...

Juvenile in vitro embryo technology (JIVET) provides exciting opportunities in animal reproduction by reducing the generation intervals. Prepubertal oocytes are also relevant models for studies on oncofertility. However, current JIVET efficiency is still unpredictable, and further improvements are needed in order for it to be used on a large-scale...

Sperm cryopreservation represents a powerful tool for horse breeding. To improve the efficiency of artificial insemination in the horse using cryopreserved spermatozoa, an adequate understanding of the underlying biophysical properties that affect sperm cryosurvival needs to be reached yet. In this pilot study, we described isolation and analysis o...

The ultimate goal of any disaster response, or a natural or a man‑made event, is to get the best outcome for the highest number of people. From a veterinary point of view, the best outcome includes either the protection of animals (conventional and unconventional pets) or the safeguarding the wholesomeness of food supplies in the "One Health" persp...

Simple Summary Mammary gland tumours are the most common canine neoplasms. They account for 25–50% of all tumors diagnosed in bitches. Metastases and recurrences develop in about 35–70% of bitches following excision. The presence of regional lymph node metastases is a relevant factor affecting prognosis and treatment in cases of mammary gland tumor...

Simple Summary The high perinatal mortality rates in dogs are partly attributable to stress at parturition, with the production of cortisol (C), and related to the type of delivery, that is elective or emergency cesarean sections (ELCS and EMCS). Nitric oxide metabolites (NOs) are also related to the type of parturition (ELCS or EMCS), because of t...

Simple Summary Diagnosis of prostatic neoplasia in dogs remains critical since none of the diagnostic methods routinely performed seem to have sufficient sensitivity or specificity. In recent years, contrast-enhanced ultrasound of the prostate gland has been successfully performed in intact dogs. However, data regarding the performance of the techn...

During capacitation, sperm undergo a myriad of changes, including remodeling of plasma membrane, modification of sperm motility and kinematic parameters, membrane hyperpolarization, increase in intracellular calcium levels, and tyrosine phosphorylation of certain sperm proteins. While potassium channels have been reported to be crucial for capacita...

Simple Summary A deeper knowledge of reproductive biology may be helpful in the donkey to avoid the risk of extinction that some breeds are facing. The evaluation of metabolites in seminal plasma provides crucial information for the knowledge of donkey sperm metabolism, for obtaining comparative information with other species, as well as for provid...

The Martina Franca donkey (MFd) is one of the largest Italian donkey breeds, considered as endangered breed. To support the conservation strategies, knowledge about the physiologic hematological parameters of MFds is needed. The aims of the study were to determine reference value for hematological and major serum parameters in a population of healt...

Eight Martina Franca pregnant jennies were selected in order to evaluate the transfer of colostral antibodies against equine herpesvirus type 1 in their relative foals after immunization with a commercial inactivated vaccine, compared with an unvaccinated group. Samples of serum and colostrums/milk were collected from jennies and foals under study...

The genotoxic and nephrotoxic mycotoxin Ochratoxin A (OTA) has also been reported to have adverse effects on oocyte maturation and embryo development. Previous studies on the effects of OTA on female fertility have used micromolar concentrations, but no information is available to date on effects in a more relevant nanomolar range. This study used...

An 11-year-old Martina Franca jenny (Equus Asinus), involved in a breed recovery programme organised by the Puglia Region, was referred to the University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital for a mass formation detected on the surface of the right ovary. The subject had regular oestrous cycles, but gestation loss was reported in the anamnesis. The ovari...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of uterine prolapse in cows and assess its effects on survival and subsequent fertility. Of 33,450 calving cows considered retrospectively, 216 (0.6%) developed uterine prolapse. A higher prevalence was found in beef cows (n = 57/5,700 cows, 1%) compared to dairy cows (n = 157/27,750 cows, 0.6%)....

Maternal inheritance is an indispensable aspect in donkey rare breed population biodiversity management and breeding programs. It is a challenge to characterize breeds genetic inheritance using morphology and historical records, we study mtDNA, to overcome those limitations. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing is a highly informative system to...

OchratoxinA (OTA) is a major mycotoxin produced by several species of Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi and has been reported as an ubiquitous natural contaminant found in food and feed[1].OTA plays reprotoxic, embryotoxic and teratogenic as well as nephrotoxic, neurotoxic, immunotoxic and carcinogenic activity as reported in either laboratory or f...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of OTA,a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi and reported as an ubiquitous contaminant of food and feed1,2on: 1) nuclear and cytoplasmic maturationand 2) developmental potential of lamb oocytes.Cumulusoocyte complexes (COCs) were recovered at local slaughterhouses from lamb ovarie...

Natural dietary exposure to ochratoxin A (OTA) has been previously reported for horses and their foals, but no data are currently available for donkeys. The present study was aimed to assess the natural OTA exposure of seven Martina Franca jennies by analyzing feed samples and blood and milk collected every 15 days from jennies during late pregnanc...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a worldwide occurring mycotoxin produced by Penicillium and Aspergillus fungi especially during unfavorable storage of cereals, with nephrotoxic, immunotoxic, teratogenic and reprotoxic activity. Although it has been shown that monogastric animals have high sensitivity to OTA, no data are available on natural exposure of Marti...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by some toxigenic fungal species of the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium with widespread occurrence in stored foods and feedstuffs [1]. OTA induces reprotoxic, embryotoxic and teratogenic effects in laboratory and farm animals [2]. In ewes fed with OTA-containing feed, undegraded OTA was detected in seru...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by some toxigenic fungal species of the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium with widespread occurrence in stored foods and feedstuffs [1] inducing reprotoxic, embryotoxic and teratogenic effects in laboratory and farm animals [2]. Ruminants are known to be relatively resistant to toxic effects of OTA, due t...

Egg yolk (EY) is conventionally used to reduce sperm cryodamage, however, there has not be evaluation of whether there is a dose-dependent effect with inclusion of EY in semen extender. To enhance the knowledge about the protective effect of EY during cryopreservation of dog semen, a specific study was designed to evaluate the dose-dependent protec...

Donkeys display a peculiar social structure, dyad based, different from horses. In particular, scarce information is available on their early life after birth, which was hypothesized to represent the most important period in the development of the social behavior between the jenny and its foal. In the first 24 hours after birth, donkeys develop mos...

In several studies there has been evaluation of the dietary addition of antioxidants to improve the quality of fresh and stored semen in domestic animals. Grape marc (GM), as the residue of vinification, contains large amounts of polyphenols with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiaging effects. In this study, two regimens of di...

The use of technology and technological tools has always been to support the improvement of the people life quality. The present project intended to value the animal and human comfort and welfare during the Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI). The approach used in this project is in according to the biopsychosocial model, using both the Internation...

Foetal adnexa are derived from the blastocyst, they rapidly grow during the first stage of the pregnancy and are finally expelled after foaling. Congenital anomalies, as well as acquired (infectious and non-infectious) diseases of the foetal adnexa can result in reproductive disorders. As a consequence, the comprehensive and systematic examination...

Abstract Background Semen evaluation is used to estimate the testicular function. In bulls, the spermatozoa present in the ejaculate are the result of a process that begun more than 2 mo earlier, bequeathing a delayed depiction of the actual function of the testis. Since testis vascularization might be critical for the gonad function, selected puls...

In this article, ethanol sclerotherapy was proposed for the treatment of large uterine cysts in the mare. Eight infertile mares, aged between 13 and 21 years, with large uterine cysts and without other detectable causes of infertility were selected. The cysts were emptied endoscopically, and 70% ethanol in saline solution was injected to fill 40% o...

Blood progesterone concentration is used in several procedures related to the reproduction in the bitch, such as ovulation monitoring, estimating time of parturition, or hypo-luteoidism management. Several techniques are available to evaluate blood progesterone concentration, such as the radioimmunoassay (RIA), the chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLI...

A 15 months-old Simmental heifer (SH) and a 18 months-old Marchigiana heifer (MH) were referred to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Teramo (Italy). In the rst heifer, clinical examination of the vulva, vestibulum, and vagina showed no signs of disease and no discharge was detected. Palpation per rectum revealed a mass in the left portion of th...

Background: In order to determine whether a combination of guaiphenesin, ketamine and xylazine can induce safe and satisfactory anaesthesia in mules undergoing field castration, eight healthy adult intact male mules were employed. They were premedicated with intravenous (IV) xylazine (1.3 mg/kg); an additional dose of xylazine (0.3 mg/ kg IV) was a...

The sperm mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) is usually evaluated using the JC-1 dye. This study aimed to verify the effect of incubation temperature (25 °C or 38 °C), incubation time (10, 30, and 45 min), JC-1 stain concentration (0.2 μM, 2 μM, 8 μM, 12 μM), and the presence of glycerol (6.6% compared with 0%), on the capacity of the stain to...

The aim of this study was to report prevalences and causes of dystocias in dairy and beef cattle, in primiparous and multiparous cows, as well as the mortality rate of calves and cows, obtained after 11 years of records across various farms in Italy. On a total of 14,575 records from dairy Italian Friesian cows, beef Romagnola and Marchigiana cows,...

Importance: The evolutionary origins of the human hepatitis C virus (HCV) are unclear. The closest animal-associated relative of HCV occurs in horses (equine hepacivirus, EqHV). The low EqHV genetic diversity implies a relatively recent acquisition of EqHV by horses, limiting the time span for potential horse-to-human infections in the past. Horse...

Background: Density gradient centrifugation was reported as a technique of semen preparation in assisted reproductive techniques in humans and animals. This technique was found to be efficient in improving semen quality after harmful techniques such as cryopreservation. Recently a modified technique, single layer centrifugation, was proposed as a...

In this study, the first postpartum heat, termed the foal heat, characteristics and performance in female donkey (jenny) of Martina Franca are described. To this end, the follicular development of 42 jennies during foal heat was compared with that of 31 jennies at the third estrus after foaling. Estrus length (7.1±0.9 and 6.8±0.7 days), follicular...

In neonatology, blood gas analysis is a useful tool in the evaluation of the health of newborns and plays a key role in early detection of critically ill subjects. Because blood gas analysis parameters have not previously been studied in any depth in donkey foals, this study was performed on 16 healthy Martina Franca donkey foals born after an unco...

In the recent years the donkey population decreased dramatically so that many breeds are presently considered as endangered. In comparison to the horse, the donkey placenta still remains not completely studied. In the horse, one of the diagnostic tool useful to identify pregnant mares at risk of abortion or premature delivery, include the transrect...

Equine spermatozoa from cauda epididymis were previously collected and frozen, and the fertility was assessed. Most studies were performed on healthy stallions that had undergone routine castration, or on epididymis collected at the abattoir, but there are no studies on the quality of epididymal semen in subjects which have died from colic or which...

The knowledge of normal pregnancy length, duration of parturition stages, and neonatal early adaptation is mandatory for a rationale management of birth, especially in monotocous species with long gestations. This study reports data obtained from a large number of Martina Franca jennies with normal healthy pregnancies and spontaneous eutocic delive...

Pyometra is one of the most common diseases in intact bitches. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a modified aglepristone protocol for the medical treatment of pyometra in the bitch. Of these, 73 bitches affected by pyometra of different breeds and age (2-14 years old) were enrolled. They were randomly assigned to a control...

Reproduction in dairy cows is based around the use of cryopreserved semen. Antibiotics are utilized to control bacterial contamination and growth in cryopreserved bull semen. The antibiotic resistance of some bacteria required the evaluation of new antibiotic combinations with a high level of antibacterial effectiveness and a negligible effect on s...

This study aimed to evaluate the analgesic effect of intrafunicular lidocaine during orchiectomy in isoflurane-anesthetized donkeys. For this purpose10 adult healthy donkeys were chosen from Martina Franca donkey population. Each donkey underwent two surgical procedures of monolateral orchiectomy under general anesthesia. Starting isoflurane vapori...

Melopsittacus undulatus is a companion parrot worldwide diffused. Many parrots are considered endangered or vulnerable. The preservation of semen is crucial in endangered species, thus, M. undulatus could be a good model to study sperm characteristics and semen cryopreservation in these other endangered parrots. In this study the effect of the bree...

In this study, the effect of the chamber used for the automated analysis of sperm motility by a computer-assisted semen analysis system on sperm kinematics was evaluated, and the cause of this effect was also verified. Twenty-three bull semen batches were thawed, and semen was diluted, aliquoted and analysed with six different chambers, (three capi...

The appearance of a decisive component of the sexual response to chemosexual signals in the male donkey was investigated through a comparison of the variations in the time-span of the behavioral classes and units for the natural versus induced breeding seasons. The results demonstrate that there are significant variations in the length of the appet...

The data about chinchilla (Chinchilla laniger) reproduction are limited and in some cases discordant. The aim of this study was to monitor the sexual hormone fluctuation by fecal progesterone level and colpocytology analysis by vaginal smears in order to evaluate the different phases of the oestrus cycle. Twenty-four non pregnant chinchillas aged f...

The Martina Franca (MF) donkey breed, with 48 jackasses and 515 jennies, is considered an endangered breed according to the data from the Monitoring Institute for Rare Breeds and Seeds in Europe. The knowledge of the estrous cycle characteristics have a great impact for assisted reproduction, especially in endangered species. In this study the estr...

Since the mammalian spermatozoa became capable of motion, during the epididymal transit, the spermatozoon swims in a liquid medium and it is completely dependent on the environmental conditions. Some reports have suggested an influence of pH on sperm kinetic characteristics, but no study has objectively described how motility changes in a different...

In this study, the effect of donkey sperm concentration in the straw during cryopreservation on the quality of thawed semen was evaluated. Samples from seven adult Martina Franca jackasses were collected three times using a Missouri artificial vagina. After estimation of volume and concentration, raw semen was evaluated for motility using a compute...

The aim of the present study was to describe the clinical findings and treatment in a foetus maceration case in a ten year-old jenny. Obstetric examination was performed by transrectal palpation and a dead foetus in longitudinal disposition, down position, posterior presentation and posterior limbs flexed to hip was fingered. On transrectal ultraso...

In different species the insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is an important regulatory factor in fetal and neonatal growth, especially in skeletal and gut development. This study was carried out to assess plasma IGF-I profile in newborn healthy donkey and horse foals during the first 2 weeks of age. The study was conducted on 32 horse and 19 donk...

This study was designed for the identification of different sperm kinetic subpopulations in feline semen using artificial neural networks (ANNs) and for the evaluation of the effect of ejaculation on motility patterns of these subpopulations. Seven tomcats presented for routine orchiectomy were electroejaculated, and after 5 days, orchiectomized an...

The purpose of this study was (i) to monitor the behaviour in donkeys, at baseline and after administration of external stimuli, (ii) to develop a protocol for the identification and the choice of animals involved in the animal-assisted therapy and activity (AAT/AAA) and simultaneously (iii) to assess their welfare through the determination of faec...

A bull was referred for a progressive oligoasthenotheratozoospermia that resulted in a unsuitable seminal quality for the cryopreservation. Breeding soundness evaluation results suggested gonadal dysfunction. Because of the lack of normal ranges for these hormones in the bull, in this study, the hypogonadism and the site of the dysfunction (hypotha...

a b s t r a c t A 4-day-old male Martina Franca donkey foal was evaluated for a forelimb alteration. Clinical examination and radiographs revealed the agenesia of the distal digit. Biochemical parameters were normal, and ultrasonographic evaluation did not identify any relievable organ alteration. Karyotype study revealed an abnormality on chromo-s...

Spermatozoa acquire their motility and fertilizing ability during their passage through the epididymal canal. In the epididymal caput and corpus spermatozoa undergo several biochemical and metabolic changes while the cauda of the epididymis should be considered as the primarily site for storage of the spermatozoa. In the horse spermatozoa from caud...

Cerebral lateralization is the portioning of the cognitive functions between the two cerebral hemispheres. Several factors, like embryological manipulations, light exposure, health conditions, sex and age can influence the left-right brain asymmetries and contribute to increasing the variability in the strength and direction of laterality within mo...

In mammals, the epididymis has numerous interrelated functions including absorptive and secretory activity that affect luminal environment and cell membrane, and the maturation and storage of sperm. Spermatozoa acquire their motility and fertilizing ability during their passage through the epididymis and the motility of epididymal spermatozoa shoul...

Contents The aim of this study was to compare the plasma profiles of 15‐ketodihydro‐PGF 2α (PGM) in healthy neonates of three different species from birth until the third week of life. Twenty‐four horse foals, 12 donkey foals, and 9 calves were studied. Blood samples were collected at 10, 20 and 30 min after birth, at 3, 24 and 72 h after birth, an...

The transition from intra- to extrauterine environment represents a very delicate phase, in which the successful coordination of maturation is strictly connected with several hormonal changes during the last weeks of gestation and at parturition. While the peripartal endocrinology in the mare has been deeply investigated, the peripartal hormonal ch...

In this study, the effect of dietary supplementation of organic selenium, vitamin E, and zinc on raw semen characteristics was evaluated. Ten stallions with normal fertility were divided into two groups: a control group (CG), in which standard diet was provided, and a treated group (TG), in which the standard diet was supplemented with 1500 mg of α...

Many hormones are involved in the regulation of male reproductive functions, controlling sexual behavior, and influencing sexual arousal, the onset of erection and ejaculation, and the post-ejaculatory detumescence. The aims of this study were to analyze the plasma concentrations of 15-ketodihydro-PGF(2α) (PGFM), LH, testosterone (T), oestrone sulp...

The aim of the study was to compare horse and donkey placentae using stereological techniques. Term placentae were collected at spontaneous foaling from seven Thoroughbred mares, seven pony mares, and six jenny donkeys. Maternal and foal weights were recorded and the mass, volume, and gross area of each allantochorion was also recorded. Ten random...