Assessment of Histological, Cytological and Biochemical Parameters of Seminal Plasma Collected from the Epididymis and Testes of Greater Cane Rat (Thryonomys swinderianus)

Abstract

Improving the greater cane rat breeding (Thryonomys swinderianus) can be achieved through the application of assisted reproductive technologies. This study aims to evaluate the quality of semen retrieved via testicular and epididymal biopsy techniques in cane rats. This was a comparative experimental study conducted on 30 cane rats. Two samples (testicular and epididymal) were retrieved under anesthesia from each subject for cytological, histological and biochemical evaluations (Cobas C111). Comparisons were performed using Student's test and the Mann-Whitney test (p < .05). Epididymal extraction demonstrated a clear superiority over testicular extraction regarding semen quality, showing significantly higher values for concentration (p = .00), motility (p = .00), and vitality (p = .00). Conversely, normal sperm morphology (p = .49) and testicular weight (p = .73) showed no significant differences. On the biochemical level, testicular tissue exhibited significantly higher enzymatic concentrations (γ-GT, AST/TGO, ALT/TGP) compared to epididymal tissue. The histological structure of the harvested organs of grasscutters are identical to that of rodents. Epididymal aspiration yields semen of superior functional quality. Increasing age enhances reproductive capacity and gonadal development without altering qualitative semen parameters. Since grasscutter rearing is a growing industry in sub-Saharan Africa, it does not yet benefit from national vaccination programs or other disease prevention measures. This hinders the industry’s growth and does not protect it from sudden mortality events, which may limit research on the subject.