Effect of the longer equilibrations time for the membrane integrity of boar spermatozoa

Abstract

Several laboratories make experiments with freezing of sperm of various livestock. The aim of our present work was to examine the effect of the extension of equilibration time before freezing on the membrane integrity of boar spermatozoa. In pursuance of our work, ejaculates of 7 boars were taken and the samples were cryopreserved by two freezing methods. One of the methods has one our longer equilibration time than the other one. After treatments before freezing and after warming the sperm, samples were taken and thereafter were stained by the method of Kovács-Foote. Afterwards the motility and the integrity of the acrosome were examined, and the two treatments were compared. To examine possible seasonal differences the experiments were done in summer and in autumn, too. The longer time of equilibration has positive effect on the viability of spermatozoa and the rate of live spermatozoa with intact acrosome was significantly higher in the longer equilibration group than for the control (P<0.05), and the average motility results of the two seasons show significant difference. The difference between so me individuals was not significant. We also didn’t find significant difference between the results of the summer and autumn experiments. Now, the treated sperms are stored in liquid nitrogen. We plan to make inseminations with these sperms in the future to control the suitability of both freezing methods.