EFFECT OF TRYPANOSOMA BRUCEI BRUCEI INFECTION ON TESTICULAR/ EPIDIDYMAL MORPHOMETRY OF RABBIT BUCKS

Abstract

The effects of experimental infection with Trypanosoma brucei brucei on testicular/epididymal morphometry of 20 adult male rabbits (bucks) were determined over a 12 weeks study period.  Ten rabbit bucks were infected with 1 ml of the parasites containing 1 X 106 trypanosomes, while the other 10 bucks served as control post infection. At the end of the experiment, two bucks from each of the groups were sacrificed and their testes were harvested for the determination of testicular/epididymal morphometry. The mean paired testicular weights for the control and the infected rabbit bucks were 1.81 ± 0.11 g and 1.82 ± 0.05 g. The mean paired epididymal weights of the control and the infected rabbit bucks were 3.19 ± 0.03 g and 2.83 ± 0.18 g, respectively. The mean paired testicular lengths for the control rabbit bucks were 8.09 ± 0.56 g, while the mean paired testicular lengths for the infected rabbit bucks were 7.79 ± 0.71 g respectively. This study has shown that T. brucei brucei is pathogenic to rabbit bucks causing serious reproductive disorders thereby exerting a negative effect on rabbit production and the socio-economic wellbeing of the tsetse endemic areas in the country and that the animals could serve as reservoirs of infection to other animals