The aim of the present study was to investigate the endocrinology of periestrus period and the days after until estrus in ewes (n = 40) synchronized out of breeding season and diagnosing the related pregnancies after laparoscopic insemination comparing to different doses of PMSG that was used. Animals treated for 12 d with CIDR followed by administration with different doses (0, 450, 550, 650, ...

The acanthocephalan parasite Acanthocephalus dirus develops from the egg to the cystacanth stage inside the freshwater isopod Caecidotea intermedius. We have shown previously that cystacanth-infected male C. intermedius are less likely to initiate mating attempts with females than uninfected males in competitive situations. Here, we used a field-based experiment to examine whether cystacanth-in...

In the common Azorean rock-pool blenny, Parablennius parvicornis, males exhibit alternative reproductive morphologies: (1) larger males defend nest sites, provide parental care, have anal glands (involved in pheromone release), testicular glands, and low gonad:body weight ratio (GSI) and (2) smaller, younger, males do not defend nests, have reduced glands and high GSI. These smaller non-nesting...

Ticks are important vectors of numerous human diseases and animal diseases. Feeding stimulates spermatogenesis, mating and insemination of male factors that trigger female reproduction. The physiology of male reproduction and its regulation of female development are essentially a black box. Several transcriptomes have catalogued expression of tick genes in the salivary glands, synganglion and m...

Most genes linked to male reproductive function have been known to evolve rapidly among species and to show signatures of positive selection. Different male species-specific reproductive strategies have been proposed to underlie positive selection, such as sperm competitive advantage and control over females postmating physiology. However, an underexplored aspect potentially affecting male repr...

BACKGROUND Vitamin D (Vit D) is important for the regulation of reproductive physiology. In humans, maternal Vit D deficiency has been implicated in several reproductive- and pregnancy-related disorders. Very few data are available regarding the Vit D status in male partners of couples attempting pregnancy. This observational study (IRB Prot. N. 078/13) aimed to evaluate whether low Vit D serum...

Gonadal steroid hormones act throughout the body to elicit changes in gene expression that result in profound effects on reproductive physiology and behavior. Steroid hormones exert many of these effects by binding to their respective intracellular receptors, which are members of a nuclear receptor superfamily of transcriptional activators. A variety of in vitro studies indicate that nuclear re...

1st century A.D.: Celsius reported that swollen veins over the testis associated are with small testis. Mid-19th century: Inflammation of male and female reproductive organs was treated with ointments, douches and massages. 1881: Dr. Levy a German gynecologist performed a post coital test for an infertile couple and determined that the husband was sterile (no sperm on microscopic exam). Late 19...

Despite significant advances in contraceptive options for women over the last 50 yr, world population continues to grow rapidly. Scientists and activists alike point to the devastating environmental impacts that population pressures have caused, including global warming from the developed world and hunger and disease in less developed areas. Moreover, almost half of all pregnancies are still un...

Sperm competition is a pervasive selective force in evolution, shaping reproductive anatomy, physiology and behaviour. Here, we present comparative evidence that varying sperm competition levels account for variation in the male reproductive anatomy of rodents, the largest and most diverse mammalian order. We focus on the sperm-producing testes and the accessory reproductive glands, which produ...