ENDOCRINE ALTERATIONS IN REPRODUCTIVE SWINES OF HIGH PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The aim of this work was to describe the sexual and reproductive behavior of male swines of high performance, submitted to a training protocol for semen collection so that they were incorporated in breeding of reproducers of the Swine Production Sector of the Animal Science Department of the Federal University of Lavras. Animals had been submitted to measurements of testicular biometry and weighing for evaluations of testicular development and of daily gain weight (DGW). After the training period, blood samples  were collected for accomplishment of hormonal analyses of serum testosterone, oestradiol, FSH, and LH. Differences were observed in testosterone and oestradiol levels, average number of daily dummy jumps, and average ejaculation time. Animal A presented a volume of 369.68 mL and 412.67 mL, to the right and left testicle, respectively, on average eight daily dummy jumps during the period of training and the average ejaculation time was of 261 seconds. The Animal B did not carry through jump during the training and presented testicular volume of 359.76 mL right and left of 315.10 mL. Hormonal levels for animal A had been of 0.0153 ng/mL and 0.7015 ng/mL for testosterone and oestradiol, respectively. On the other hand, Animal B presented plasmatic concentration of testosterone of 0.0011 ng/mL and 0.0241 ng/mL of oestradiol. The concentrations of FSH and LH had been similar between the animals being 0.10 mU/mL and 0.10 U/L, respectively. These differences observed possibly explain both males’s sexual behavior during the period of training and semen collected.

KEY WORDS: Boar, libido, hormones, sexual behavior.