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Effects of dietary L-carnitine supplementation on testicular histology of Iraqi drakes

Hazim J. Al-Daraji and Anmar O. Tahir

University of Baghdad, College of Agriculture, Department of Animal Production, Baghdad, Iraq

 
Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary L-carnitine at different levels on testicular histology in Iraqi drakes. Forty-eight, 30-wk-old Iraqi drakes, were fed the same basal diet that was supplemented with 0 (control), 50, 100 or 150 mg of L-carnitine/kg of diet for 12 weeks. The supplementation of dietary L-carnitine at levels of 50, 100 or 100 mg/kg to a basal diet significantly increased absolute and relative weight of testis, germinal cell thickness, seminiferous tubules lumen diameter and seminiferous tubules diameter. However, supplementation of the drake ration with different levels of L-carnitine significantly increased volume density of spermatocytes, spermatids, sperms, spermatogenic cells, Sertoli cells, total seminiferous tubules, Leydig cells, blood vessels and total interstitium and significantly decreased volume density of vacuoles, lumen, interstitial spaces and total seminiferous tubules/total interstitium ratio.  Moreover, feeding diets containing different levels of L-carnitine resulted in significant increase in relative weight of spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatids, sperms, spermatogenic cells, Sertoli cells, total seminiferous tubules, myoid cells, Leydig cells, blood vessels and total interstitium and significant decrease in relative weight of total seminiferous tubules/total interstitium. These results suggest that dietary L-carnitine supplementation significantly improve testes histological traits of drakes. Therefore, L-carnitine can be used as beneficial tool for improving reproductive performance of male birds.

Keywords: Carnitine; testicular histology; drakes
 
To cite this article: Al-Daraji HJ and AO Tahir, 2014. Effects of dietary L-carnitine supplementation on testicular histology of Iraqi drakes. Res. Opin. Anim. Vet. Sci., 4(11): 614-621.
 
 
 

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