Abstract
Heat stress can impair the general health of rabbit bucks by disturbing physiological homeostasis with negative consequences in animal welfare and remarkable decline in reproductive performance. Selenium (Se) can control a number of vital biological processes. Thus, the effects of organic selenium (OSe) supplementation on the blood metabolites, redox status, semen quality, testicular histology, seminal plasma protein profile, and fertility of rabbit bucks kept under natural heat stress conditions were studied. Adult V-line male rabbits were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.3 mg OSe/kg dry matter (DM) diet (OSe, n = 9) or not (control, CON, n = 9) for 12 weeks. The results showed that rabbits fed the OSe diet had 73.68 and 68.75% higher (P < 0.05) OSe concentrations in the blood serum and seminal plasma, respectively, than rabbits fed the CON diet. The OSe diet significantly decreased the rectal temperature and respiration rate and significantly increased the blood serum concentrations of total protein, albumin, glucose, and glutathione peroxidase compared to the CON diet. Rabbits fed the OSe diet had lower reaction times (12.53 vs. 5.84 s, ± 0.79, P < 0.01) and higher total functional sperm counts (116.74 vs. 335.23 × 106/ml, ± 24.68, P < 0.001) and percentages of integrated sperm membranes (60.38 vs. 79.19%, ± 1.69, P < 0.01) than rabbits fed the CON diet. Rabbits fed the OSe diet had higher (P < 0.01) contents of seminal plasma total protein, albumin, alanine transaminase, fructose, and total antioxidant capacity and lower (P < 0.001) malondialdehyde (MDA) levels than those fed the CON diet. Rabbits fed the OSe diet had sperm cells with higher levels of integrated DNA than those fed the CON diet. The seminal plasma of rabbits fed the OSe diet contained four new proteins, with molecular weights of 19.0, 21.5, 30.0, and 44.0 kDa. The kindling rates, litter size, and weight at birth of females mated with males fed the OSe diet were significantly higher than those of females mated with males fed the CON diet. In summary, the inclusion of 0.3 mg OSe/kg DM diet of naturally heat-stressed rabbit bucks countered the negative impacts of elevated environmental temperature on physiological homeostasis, semen quality, and fertility.
Highlights
Increasing global warming represents a real challenge to the livestock industry, in arid and semi-arid regions
The effects of organic selenium (OSe) supplementation on the physiological variables and blood serum metabolites are shown in Figure 3, respectively
There was no significant difference in body weight or feed intake between the two experimental groups
Summary
Increasing global warming represents a real challenge to the livestock industry, in arid and semi-arid regions. Continuation of the breeding season could be restricted for several months due to heat stress (high ambient temperatures), which has negative effects on male fertility, resulting in pronounced economic loss [1]. Heat stress alters testicular structure and weight, decreases sperm output, reduces sperm quality, and increases sperm morphological abnormalities and DNA fragmentation in male germ cells [2]. The negative effects of heat stress on male fertility are partially related to the generation of reactive oxygen species [3]. Utilization of antioxidants might be a method to address the negative effects of heat stress on male fertility. GPX4 can protect the developing sperm from oxidative stress–induced DNA damage; it is a structural component of the mitochondrial sheath in the sperm midpiece, being an essential component for sperm stability and motility [7]
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