Veterinary Research Forum

Abstract The cooling procedure markedly diminishes the quality of guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) sperms, primarily because their membranes are highly susceptible to this process. This susceptibility triggers the generation of reactive oxygen species and free radicals, ultimately leading to lipid peroxidation in the sperm membrane. Surprisingly, there has been a lack of research on the use of Tris-based extenders to safeguard guinea pig sperm under refrigeration conditions. This study aimed to assess the viability of guinea pig spermatozoa diluted in Tris buffer-based extenders during storage at 5.00 ˚C. Sperm collection was carried out through castration of the animals. For this study, 10 adult male guinea pigs were utilized, being divided into four groups including phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), human tubal fluid (HTF), Tris-citric-glucose (TCG), and Tris-fructose-yolk (TFY) cultures. Evaluations including sperm motility, morphology, plasma membrane integrity, viability, and total count were conducted at 0, 24, and 48 hr after sampling. The results obtained indicated that at the 24-hr and 48-hr marks of the experiment, both overall and progressive motility percentages, viability, plasma membrane integrity, and morphology of sperms in the PBS and HTF cultures exhibited a significant increase in comparison with the TCG and TFY cultures. Consequently, it can be inferred that PBS and HTF cultures are highly effective in preserving the quality of guinea pig spermatozoa.

Abstract Cardiac problems are highly fetal diseases among exotic animals, not only in the rabbit which is prone to such diseases but also in the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus). In rodents, imaging studies such as thoracic radiography are more practical and easier to perform than echocardiography. Cardiac size is primarily evaluated using vertebral heart size (VHS) as reported in ferrets and rabbits. We therefore attempted to determine standard cardiac dimensions in the guinea pig by thoracic radiography using VHS. The purpose of this research was getting an indicator of the normal range of male and female, mature and apparently healthy guinea pigs heart. Standard radiographs of the thorax in lateral and ventro-dorsal (VD) views were taken and interpreted. In our study to determine VHS in VD view conventional method was used. In addition to conventional VHS method, two other measurement methods were performed in lateral view. Statistical analyses were performed with a SPSS Software and Mann-Whitney U test to compare results. Mean and standard deviation were also calculated. According to the results, the total average of VHS in lateral view by the first method was 7.80 ± 0.12, by the second method was 7.80 ± 0.16, by the third method was 7.60 ± 0.15 and the total of average of VHS in VD view was 9.20 ± 0.23. According to present research findings, gender had no meaningful effect on the measuring of the heart size. More researches on the same age and the same species guinea pigs are needed for more accurate evaluation.

Abstract In this research, anatomical descriptions of the structure of the temporal bone and auditory ossicles have been performed based on dissection of ten guinea pigs. The results showed that, in guinea pig temporal bone was similar to other animals and had three parts; squamous, tympanic and petrous .The tympanic part was much better developed and consisted of oval shaped tympanic bulla with many recesses in tympanic cavity. The auditory ossicles of guinea pig concluded of three small bones; malleus, incus and stapes but the head of the malleus and the body of incus were fused and forming a malleoincudal complex. The average of morphometric parameters showed that the malleus was 3.53 ± 0.22 mm in total length. In addition to head and handle, the malleus had two distinct process; lateral and muscular. The incus had a total length 1.23 ± 0.02mm. It had long and short crus although the long crus was developed better than short crus. The lenticular bone was a round bone that articulated with the long crus of incus. The stapes had a total length 1.38 ± 0.04mm. The anterior crus(0.86 ± 0.08mm) was larger than posterior crus (0.76 ± 0.08mm). It is concluded that, in the guinea pig, the malleus and the incus are fused, forming a junction called incus-malleus, while in the other animals these are separate bones. The stapes is larger and has a triangular shape and the anterior and posterior crus are thicker than other rodents. Therefore, for otological studies, the guinea pig is a good lab animal.