Preservation of Epididymal Stallion Sperm in Liquid and Frozen States: Effects of Seminal Plasma on Sperm Function and Fertility |
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| Institution: | 1. Equine Reproduction Service, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain;2. Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Department of Biology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain;1. Artificial Insemination and Embryo Transfer, Department of Small Animals and Horses, Vetmeduni Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria;2. Laboratory of Equine Reproduction, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain;3. Obstetrics, Gynecology and Andrology, Department of Small Animals and Horses, Vetmeduni Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria;4. IPROCAR Research Inst., TECAL Research Group, University of Extremadura, Caceres, Spain;1. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Center for Species Survival, Front Royal, VA;2. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA;3. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA;4. Proteomics Core Facility, Division of Intramural Research, NHLBI, Bethesda, MD;5. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India;6. University of Maryland, College Park, MD;7. Cooperative Research Farms, Richmond, VA;1. National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China;2. Shandong Donge Ejiao Co., Ltd., Shandong, China;1. Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL;2. Department of Animal Reproduction and Veterinary Radiology, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Sao Paulo State University, Botucatu, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Three separate experiments were conducted to improve preservation of stallion epididymal sperm. In the first one, two different cooling extenders (Kenney and Gent) were compared. Sperm viability and motility patterns were assessed in 10 different epididymal sperm samples after 0 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 96 hours of preservation at 4°C. No significant differences were observed in any of the evaluated parameters either between extenders or throughout the storage period. The second set of experiments was designed to determine whether supplementing thawing medium (INRA Freeze) with seminal plasma had any impact on the quality of frozen-thawed epididymal sperm. Ten epididymal frozen-thawed sperm samples coming from separate stallions were used and different functional parameters (sperm membrane integrity and lipid disorder, motility, intracellular Ca2+ levels, and intracellular concentrations of peroxides and superoxides) were evaluated after incubation with or without 50% seminal plasma. Supplementing thawing medium with seminal plasma had no impact on sperm function and survival. The third experiment was an in vivo study. Twenty-five mares were inseminated with epididymal frozen-thawed sperm and seminal plasma, and 21 were bred with epididymal frozen-thawed sperm only. Pregnancy rates obtained for mares artificially inseminated with epididymal frozen-thawed sperm and seminal plasma were significantly (P < .05) higher than those observed when seminal plasma was not infused (64% vs. 19%). Taken together, our data indicate that the quality of epididymal stallion sperm can be maintained at 4°C for up to 96 hours. In addition, not only does supplementing frozen-thawed epididymal sperm with seminal plasma have any damaging effect on their quality but it may also improve pregnancy rates after artificial insemination. |
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| Keywords: | Equine Epididymal sperm Preservation Seminal plasma Artificial insemination |
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