The study aimed to declare the influence of the epididymal region on spermatozoa characteristics and oviduct reservoir potential in dromedary camel. Testicles with epididymis of mature dromedary camels aged 5-10 years old (n= 27) were collected during the rutting season (December – April). Spermatozoa collected from the three main anatomical epididymal parts (caput, corpus and cauda) were assessed for sperm characteristics (progressive motility, sperm count, viability, normality, immaturity, and abnormalities) and binding ability to oviduct cell aggregates. A significant difference (P˂ 0.0001) in spermatozoa motility, count, viability and normality was recorded among the epididymal regions. There was a significant decrease in the proportion of bent tail, immaturity (P˂ 0.0001) and deformed head (P˂ 0.05) abnormalities in corpus and cauda sperms compared to those from caput. Besides, the proportion of spermatozoa abnormalities (detached head, double head, reversed tail and coiled tail (P= 0.51, 0.39, 0.98 and 0.59, respectively) showed no significant difference among the three epididymal segments. Spermatozoa from cauda epididymis showed a highly significant (P< 0.01) binding affinity to the oviduct aggregates than those from caput and corpus epididymis. In conclusion, dromedary camels spermatozoa gain high fertilizing potency through epididymal duct passage which influences spermatozoa characteristics and development of oviduct binding ability. |
