Study: Pentoxifylline’s Effect on Semen Quantity and Quality

Equine semen quality and quantity were not significantly improved with pentoxifylline administration.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Valuable breeding stallions often are expected to breed multiple mares daily at the peak of breeding season. To that end, veterinarians and stud managers hope to optimize stallions’ sperm quality and quantity and, thus, pregnancy rates. Researchers recently sought to determine the effects of a human drug designed to improve blood flow on stallions’ semen quality and testicular blood flow.

"To successfully breed this many mares, stallions must consistently produce large numbers of good-quality sperm," explained Malgorzata Pozor, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACT, an assistant clinical professor in the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Complicating this requirement are many factors that can adversely affect sperm production, such as age, illness, anabolic steroid use, trauma, and testicular degeneration. And since declining fertility contributes to significant financial losses, the issue of optimizing sperm quantity and quality can be crucial for breeders.

"In humans, a drug called pentoxifylline has improved sperm motility, shape, and concentrations, presumably by improving blood flow in the testicles," said Pozor

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Stacey Oke, MSc, DVM, is a practicing veterinarian and freelance medical writer and editor. She is interested in both large and small animals, as well as complementary and alternative medicine. Since 2005, she’s worked as a research consultant for nutritional supplement companies, assisted physicians and veterinarians in publishing research articles and textbooks, and written for a number of educational magazines and websites.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
289 votes · 289 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!