• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 2002

The objectives of this study were to understand the possible mechanism of duck sperm toxicity induced by arsenic exposure in vivo, and to investigate the roles of the antioxidant L-ascorbic acid in ameliorating the arsenic-induced sperm impairment. To test the acute toxicity, the percentages of mortality of mature drakes treated with different concentrations of trivalent sodium arsenite, As (III), and pentavalent sodium arsenate, As (V) were measured. The LD50 value of As (III) for mature drakes was $4.89{\pm}1.49$ ppm. Although As (V) didn't cause any deaths even at a concentration of 40 ppm, the chronic toxicity of As (V) on sperm quality was shown by a decreased fertilization rate. When the concentrations of As (V) were above 0.4 ppm, fertilization rates were lower than those of 0.04 ppm and control. Drakes treated with 40 ppm of As (V) had the highest malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the testis tissue, $3.100{\pm}0.218{\mu}mole/g$ testis. This showed that 40 ppm of As (V) significantly induced lipid peroxidation in testis tissue. For the 1.2 ppm As (III) treatment, several significant effects were observed: (1) sperm motility was decreased most dramatically by $52.0{\pm}9.1$% after three days of incubation; (2) fertilization rate of artificially inseminated semen was the lowest, $26.4{\pm}15.4$; (3) the MDA concentration in testis tissue, $7.846{\pm}0.246{\mu}mole/g$ testis, was significantly higher than the others (p<0.05); (4) the sperm number, $1.17{\pm}0.40({\times}10^9)$, was significantly lower than with the 60 ppb and control treatments (p<0.05); (5) a black appearance and soft texture was observed in the testis tissue. The antioxidant L-ascorbic acid administered along with 1.2 ppm As (III) decreased the toxicity of arsenic. The ameliorating effects included: improved sperm motility, increased sperm number and fertilization rate, and decreased MDA concentration in the testis tissue. This study suggests that the toxicity of the trivalent arsenic on sperm quality is partly from free radicals generated by its metabolic pathway, and the antioxidant ascorbic acid ameliorates arsenic-caused sperm impairment.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.34 no.12
• /
• pp.1879-1885
• /
• 2021

Objective: Owing to the lack of a breeding index for efficient and quick fertility evaluations of Holstein bulls when using traditional or genome-wide detection methods, this study aimed to determine whether in vitro fertilization (IVF) could be used as an indicator of conception rate of artificial insemination (AI). Methods: Conventional and sexed frozen semen from nine bulls were used for IVF and AI. Results: The IVF and AI conception rates of each bull were confirmed to be positively correlated between the conventional frozen and sexed frozen semen. The correlation coefficient R values of nine bulls between IVF and AI methods were 0.73 and 0.97 for the conventional frozen and sexed frozen semen, respectively. The average conception rate of three bulls undergoing AI was 69.5% and 64.2%, 61.8% and 58.8%, and 48.2% and 46.2% in first-, second-, and third-born cows when conventional frozen and sexed frozen semen were used, respectively, which showed a positive correlation with the fertilization rate in the same parity. We propose an evaluation standard to assess the fertilization ability of bulls based on their IVF test results, which is categorized into three grades: grade one, normal fertility bull with an AI conception rate of 40%±5% and IVF rate of 45% to 60%; grade two, higher fertility bull with an AI conception rate of 50%±5% and IVF rate of 61% to 80%; and grade three, highest fertility bull with an AI conception rate of 60%±5% and IVF rate of >80%. Conclusion: These findings reveal that IVF results can be used as a breeding index for bulls to evaluate their AI conception ability, which may shorten the time required to select bulls for breeding.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.737-741
• /
• 1996

Dry matter yield of reed canarygrass was investigated in uncultivated rice paddy in Korea, and an attempt was made to estimate the most economic and efficient cutting frequency and rates of nitrogen (N) fertilization, for increased production of reed canarygrass. Total dry matter yields of reed canarygrass per year were 7.4-15.7, 8.5-16.1, and 7.5-13.4 tons/ha in 3, 4, and 5 cutting frequencies, respectively, and over the N treatments of 0-120 kg N/ha/cut. When cut 3 or 5 times annually, the 2nd cut produced the highest proportion of total yield at 38.4 and 33.0%, respectively, when cut 4 times the 3rd cut was highest (38.3%). The ranges of economic N level, limiting N level and efficiency of dry matter production were 243.3-293.0, 387.2, and 14.6 kg DM/kg N, respectively. These indicators were particularly low for the 5 cutting frequency possibly because of the unusually high temperature in the summer season. The best cutting frequency for the dry matter production of reed canarygrass in 1994 was 3 per year because of the higher efficiency of dry matter production.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.251-256
• /
• 2011

Presently, the effect of 0.5 mM dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP)-supplemented maturation medium during different incubation time on meiotic arrest (germinal vesicle) and resumption (metaphase II) of porcine oocytes and embryonic development of porcine oocytes following in vitro fertilization (IVF) or parthenogenetic activation (PA) was determined. Porcine cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured in 0.5 mM dbcAMP for 17, 22, 27, or 42 h, and an additional 22 h without 0.5 mM dbcAMP. The nuclear status was examined at each time point. Oocytes cultured from 39~49 h displayed more than 80% meiotic resumption. More than 85 % of meiotic arrest was presented at 17~22 h. Oocytes were cultured for 22 h with 0.5 mM dbcAMP and additional 22 h without dbcAMP to assess developmental potential following IVF or PA. There were no significant differences in blastocyst rates among the dbcAMPIVF, IVF, dbcAMP-PA, and PA groups, although cleavage rate of IVF group was significantly higher than those of dbcAMP-PA, and PA groups. In conclusion, 0.5 mM dbcAMP influenced meiotic maturation of porcine oocytes depending on incubation time of oocyte, although embryonic development was not improved in both IVF and PA.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.329-339
• /
• 1993

Effects of relative light intensity and N, P fertilization on the growth and ramet dynamics of the rhizomatous plants, Arundinella hirta, Miscanthus sinensi and Spdiopogon sibiricus were studied in Chuncheon, Kangweon-Do. Ramets emerged in one pulse a year, withered in one pulse at the end of the growing season in M. sinensis and S. sibircus stands, while the birth and death pulse in A. hirta stands were two times. Total births of ramet were 9 times and 3.6 times greater in the unshaded fertilized stands of A. hirta and M. sinensis than in the shaded, However, those of S.sibiricus were 2.1 times greater in the shaded stands. Flowering rates of A. hirta, M.sinensis and S.sibiricus I the unshaded fertilized stands were 1.8, 2.7 and 1.04 times greater than in the shaded unfertilized stands, respectively. Height of ramets of A. hirta and M.sinensis were the hightest in the unshaded fertilized stands. However, that of s.sibiricus was the highest in the shaded fertilized stand. Aboveground production of A.hirta in the fertilized stand was 2.4 times greater in the unshaded stand than in the shaded one. Results of inflorescence frequency, shoot height and the ratio of aboveground to belowground were smiliar to the total births. The added fertilizer markedly increased the ramet density and the shoot productivity of three rhizomatous plants, especially of A. hirta.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.151-159
• /
• 1997

In vitro fertilization(IVF) derived morula and blastocyst embryos were bisected by a simple method and cultured in vitro without zona pellucida And also bisected embryos were frozen-thawed and cultured in vitro) to evaluate the survival rate. The results obtained were as follows : The average number of grade I or II immature follicular oocytes recovered by slicing method per ovary was 11.9 from 142 ovaries. Following in vitro fertilization, the rates of cleavage and in vitro development to morula and blatocyst were 61.7 and 32.2% respectively. The successful bisection rate of IVE embryos was 67.51%, and the embryos of blastocyst stage were bisected successfully at significantly(P

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.239-244
• /
• 2005

The effects of diluents composition on cold storage for olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) sperm were examined in terms of the swimming speed of sperm, the percentage of mobile sperm, and fertilization rates. The following results indicated that cold storage methods with fresh conditions could be employed in olive flounder milt preservation. The preserved sperm of olive flounder that was diluted I: 10 with artificial seminal plasma II (ASP II) and Stein's solution (SS) at $0^{\circ}C$ remained motile for 30 days. The most effective condition for cold storage was ASP II and SS at 0 $0^{\circ}C$ for the sperm, although there is no significant difference statistically. No difference in the fertilization rate was found between fresh sperm and the preserved ones with ASP I, II and SS at 10 days post-storage.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.158-158
• /
• 2003

Bioassays using gametes of sea urchins are widely used in ecotoxicological assessments of marine environments. Since most of sea urchin species in Korean coastal water spawn from spring to autumn, bioassay with them during the winter is impossible. In the course of developing standard methods for bioassays with Korean species, we found a winter-spawning starfish, Asterias amurensis, Since reproductive mode of asteroids is similar to echinoids, the bioassay protocol for sea urchins could be applied similarly to the starfish. Here, we tested and determined several conditions for the acceptability of bioassay with A. amurensis. The least required time for formation of fertilization membrane of fertilized eggs to be easily distinguished from unfertilized ones was 60 min. The threshold of sperm to egg ratio that could make acceptable fertilization rates in controls was 3000. The allowed time for manipulation of sperm after dilution in seawater was at most 3 hr. The optimal exposure time of sperms when the response against toxicant solution was relatively stable was in the range of 20-60 min. The tolerance range of sperms to the salinity of test solution was 26-38 psu. The sensitivity of A. amurensis sperm was intermediate among marine organisms commonly used in aquatic toxicity tests. The sperm bioassay with A. amurensis can be satisfactorily applied to toxicity assessments of marine environments.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.273-278
• /
• 1995

Mammalian, including human, spermatozoa undergo morphological and physiological changes during sperm maturation. There were, these changes may affect the fertilization and embryonic development. In this study, we examined the pronucleus formation, pronucleus disappearance and embryonic development in the human oocytes fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The injected spermatozoa were grouped into ejaculated, epididymal and testicular by the collecting region. Among 363 metaphase II injected oocytes, 287(79.1%) oocytes were normally fertilized and displayed two pronuclei. There were no difference in the fertilization rates and in the pronucleus formation and pronucleus disappearance at 16, 20 and 24 hr after ICSI, among the each spermatozoa group. Also, at 64 hr, the appearance of embryonic development was similar. From these results it can be concluded that there was no difference of maturity among the sperm collected from ejaculated, epididymis and testis in the pronucleus formation and embryonic development. Therefore, testicular spermatozoa are successfully used with ICSI in IVF-ET program.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.76-86
• /
• 2022

Ovarian cystectomy is the preferred technique for the surgical management of ovarian endometrioma. However, other techniques such as ablation or sclerotherapy are also commonly used. The aim of this review is to summarize information regarding the efficacy of ablation and sclerotherapy compared to cystectomy in terms of ovarian reserve, the recurrence rate, and the pregnancy rate. Several studies comparing ablation versus cystectomy or sclerotherapy versus cystectomy in terms of the serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) decrement, endometrioma recurrence, or the pregnancy rate were identified and summarized. Both ablation and cystectomy have a negative impact on ovarian reserve, but ablation results in a smaller serum AMH decrement than cystectomy. Nonetheless, the recurrence rate is higher after ablation than after cystectomy. More studies are needed to demonstrate whether the pregnancy rate is different according to whether patients undergo ablation or cystectomy. The evidence remains inconclusive regarding whether sclerotherapy is better than cystectomy in terms of ovarian reserve. The recurrence rates appear to be similar between sclerotherapy and cystectomy. There is not yet concrete evidence that sclerotherapy helps to improve the pregnancy rate via in vitro fertilization in comparison to cystectomy or no sclerotherapy.