Preservation of Epididymal Stallion Sperm in Liquid and Frozen States: Effects of Seminal Plasma on Sperm Function and Fertility.
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.
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2020-01-30 PubMed ID: 32303324DOI: 10.1016/j.jevs.2020.102940Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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The research article explores the preservation techniques of stallion epididymal sperm in liquid and frozen states, and the effect of seminal plasma on sperm function and fertility. The research indicates that cooling extenders offer no significant difference in preserving sperm but supplementing frozen sperm with seminal plasma can improve pregnancy rates in artificial insemination.
Experimental Design
- The research was divided into three experiments.
- The first experiment included two different cooling extenders named Kenney and Gent, and examined their preservation effectiveness after 0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours at a temperature of 4°C.
- The second experiment aimed to determine if supplementing the thawing medium (INRA Freeze) with seminal plasma affected the quality of frozen-thawed sperm by assessing various functional parameters.
- The third experiment analyzed the fertility performance through an in-vivo study where 25 mares were artificially inseminated with frozen-thawed sperm and seminal plasma and 21 with frozen-thawed sperm alone, to compare the pregnancy rates obtained.
Findings
- The first experiment revealed no significant differences in sperm viability and motility between the extenders Kenney and Gent, or over the course of the storage period of up to 96 hours.
- The second experiment showed that the sperm function and survival were not impacted by supplementing the thawing medium with seminal plasma.
- In the third experiment, it was found that the mares inseminated with the combination of frozen-thawed sperm and seminal plasma had significantly higher pregnancy rates (64%), compared with those inseminated with only the frozen-thawed sperm (19%).
Implications and Conclusion
- From these findings, it’s evident that preservation of stallion sperm at 4°C for up to 96 hours is possible without loss in quality.
- Supplementing the frozen-thawed sperm with seminal plasma does not negatively affect the sperm quality.
- The addition of seminal plasma to the frozen-thawed sperm can significantly increase the success of artificial insemination.
- These results point towards a potential method to improve fertility rates in equine artificial insemination procedures.
Cite This Article
APA
Miró J, Morató R, Vilagran I, Taberner E, Bonet S, Yeste M.
(2020).
Preservation of Epididymal Stallion Sperm in Liquid and Frozen States: Effects of Seminal Plasma on Sperm Function and Fertility.
J Equine Vet Sci, 88, 102940.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2020.102940 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Equine Reproduction Service, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jordi.miro@uab.cat.
- Equine Reproduction Service, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Department of Biology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain.
- Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Department of Biology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain.
- Equine Reproduction Service, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
- Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Department of Biology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain.
- Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Department of Biology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Cryopreservation / veterinary
- Female
- Fertility
- Horses
- Male
- Pregnancy
- Semen
- Semen Preservation / veterinary
- Spermatozoa
Citations
This article has been cited 2 times.- Mujitaba MA, Kútvölgyi G, Radnai Szentpáli J, Debnár VJ, Tokár A, Vass N, Bodó S. The Influence of Three Commercial Soy Lecithin-Based Semen Extenders and Two Spermatozoa Concentrations on the Quality of Pre-Freeze and Post-Thaw Ram Epididymal Spermatozoa. Animals (Basel) 2024 Apr 20;14(8).
- Lago-Alvarez Y, Podico G, Segabinazzi LG, Cunha LL, Barbosa L, Arnold CE, Lima FS, King LT, McLean AK, Canisso IF. Donkey Epididymal Transport for Semen Cooling and Freezing. Animals (Basel) 2020 Nov 25;10(12).
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