Gonadal, extra gonadal sperm reserve and daily sperm production of breeder cocks fed graded levels of dietary fumonisin B1

Abstract

Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a secondary metabolite of the fungus fusarium verticillioides is known to be consumed by farm animals and has been reported to be associated with various farm animal diseases. To account for potential reproductive effects \of fumonisin in cocks meant for breeding purpose, sixty pre-pubertal breeder cocks of about 16 weeks of age were randomly assigned to four diets containing 0.2, 5.2, 10.2 and 15.2mg FB1/kg constituting diets 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. After 16 weeks of feeding trial all the pubertal cocks were sacrificed. Their testes and epididimydes were carefully dissected, removed, weighed and recorded. The left and right organs were homogenized separately. Dietary FB1 did not significantly (p> 0.05) influence both the gonadal and extra gonadal weights of the cock. The gonadal sperm reserves (GSR) of cocks fed the control diet (5.54x 107/testis) was significantly superior (p<0.05) to those fed diet 4 (2.66 X 107/ testis). Expressing the GSR on per gram of testis basis, cocks fed with the control diet had a significantly higher value when compared with cocks fed diet 4. The GSR in the left testis both on per testis and gram of testis bases was superior to those of the right testis. The dietary FB1 levels significantly decreased the extra gonadal sperm reserves (ESR) of the cocks which ranged from 4.21X107/epididymis for cocks on diet 1 to 1.33X 107 /epididymis for cocks fed diet 4. The daily sperm production (DSP) of the cocks both on per testis and per gram testis were significantly reduced as the inclusion levels of dietary FB1 increased. The DSP of cocks fed diet 4 were half the DSP of cocks fed the control diet. The study revealed that cocks intended for breeding purpose should not be exposed to dietary FB1 higher than 10.2 ppm FB1 for optimum reproductive performance.