• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 1985

Eight 2-yr old bulls from Artificial Breeding Center, NLCF were used to determine the effectof collection frequency on semen characteristics and sexual activity. Two successive ejaculates per day were collected by artificial vagina for 4 weeks on weekly or twice a week. Total ejaculate volume included 2nd ejaculates for one time and two time bulls was 6.8ml and 6.0ml, but there was no significant difference between collection intervals. Sperm concentration of one time and two time bulls averaged 0.79$\times$109/ml and 0.89$\times$109/ml, respectively. Total sperm per ejaculate was 5.14$\times$109 for one time bulls and 5.45$\times$10 for two time bulls. Two time bulls had slight more sperm per ml and ejaculate than one time bulls, but there were no significant differences between two group bulls. Sperm motility and semen pH of two time bulls was slightly better than that of one time bulls. In changes of bulk minerals in semen, solium concentration of two time bulls was similar to that of one time bulls. Potassium and calcium was more concentrated in one time bulls than in two time bulls, but these concentrations did not differ significantly. Libido score for two time bulls was higher than that for one time bulls. However, there was no difference between two groups and these scores did not change for 4 weeks in two goups. Total time to 2nd ejaculation was 16.3 sec for one time bulls and 20.5 sec for two time bulls.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.935-944
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• 2021

It has been suggested that bisphenol A (BPA), a known endocrine disruptor, interferes with the endocrine system, causing reproductive dysfunction. Recently, BPA has been found in waste water due to incomplete sewage purification, possibly threatening health through its ingestion via tap water. In this study, young male mice (6 - 7 weeks old) were administered water containing BPA (50 mg·kg^-1) for four weeks, while control mice consumed water without BPA. Serum, epididymal spermatozoa and testicular sections were assessed after sacrificing the mice on day 28. No significant differences were obtained between the groups in the body, testis and seminal vesicle weights. However, the epididymal sperm motility and count levels were significantly reduced in BPA-fed mice. Significantly higher hepatotoxicity levels were also observed in mice ingesting BPA as compared to the control mice. The level of serum testosterone was reduced, and testicular sections revealed incomplete and irregular spermatogenesis in BPA-ingested mice. The sperm proteasomal-proteolytic activity level has been implicated in sperm function and is measured in motile spermatozoa using fluorometric substrates. High ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase activity levels were observed in the control mice without BPA. During a mating trial, a low pregnancy rate (71.4%) was observed in females mated with males who had consumed BPA (100% in the control mice). Overall, BPA adversely affected spermatogenesis and quality, as indicated by decreased sperm motility, concentration and serum testosterone levels, resulting in reduced fertility competence.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.211-215
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• 1997

Experiments were performed to find out the proper conditions of diluents for the short-tenn storage of sperm of black seabream, Acanthopagrus schlegeli. For milt collection, brood stock was reared in a recirculating seawater system. The following results indicated that short-term storage methods with fresh condition could tie employed in black seabream sperm. When the black seabream's serum was used as a diluent for the fresh storage, sperm activity index (SAI), fertilization rate and survival rate derived the best result in $7\~10\;days$ of storage. pH 7 and 8 showed the highest SAI in the same storage condition. In order to keep high SAI and survival rate of the sperm, addition of 800 ppm neomycine into the diluent revealed the best storage results.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2014

This study aimed to find an optimal diluent and cryoprotective agent (CPA) during cryopreservation of common Korean bitterling Acheilognathus signifier sperm. The bitterling is an endangered species in Korea, and this study will enable conservation and further technical development of artificial seed production. We tested the effects of cryopreservation and toxicity by the type of diluent and CPA. The optimal combination of diluent and CPA for cryopreservation was 300 mM glucose+10% methanol, resulting in a survival rate and sperm activity index (SAI) of $96.3{\pm}1.5%$, and $3.0{\pm}0.0$ respectively, and no significant difference compared to fresh sperm. The survival rate and SAI of post-thawed sperm was $9.7{\pm}1.5%$, $0.8{\pm}0.3$ respectively, which was significantly higher than had been achieved with other diluents and CPAs.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.173-177
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• 2007

An experiment was performed to obtain cryopreservation techniques of starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus) sperm. Milt obtained from 24 males were cryopreserved using two diluents, artificial seminal plasma (ASP) and Stein's solution (SS) with three cryoprotectants, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), methanol, and glycerol concentrated from 5% to 20%. Post-thaw sperm activity (motility and/or speed) revealed the highest in 10% DMSO and 15% methanol in ASP and SS as diluent. Motility and speed of cryopreserved sperm were decreased according to increase of glycerol concentration. To conclude, DMSO was a better cryoprotectant than methanol or glycerol for cryopreservation of starry flounder sperm. Glycerol was incongruent cryoprotectant because of toxic to starry flounder sperm. Most cryopreserved spermatozoa without cryoprotectant showed the enlarged head with granulated chromatin and ruptured plasma membrane by freezing and thawing injuries compared with unfrozen normal spermatozoa.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.640-654
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• 2024

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of sodium salicylate (SS) on semen preservation and metabolic regulation in goats. Methods: Under the condition of low temperature, SS was added to goat semen diluent to detect goat sperm motility, plasma membrane, acrosome, antioxidant capacity, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and metabonomics. Results: The results show that at the 8th day of low-temperature storage, the sperm motility of the 20 μM SS group was 66.64%, and the integrity rates of the plasma membrane and acrosome were both above 60%, significantly higher than those of the other groups. The activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase in the sperm of the 20 μM SS group were significantly higher than those of the control group, the contents of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde were significantly lower than those in the control group, the MMP was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the contents of Ca²⁺ and total cholesterol were significantly higher than those in the control group. Through metabonomics analysis, there were significant metabolic differences between the control group and the 20 μM SS group. Twenty of the most significant metabolic markers were screened, mainly involving five metabolic pathways, of which nicotinic acid and nicotinamide metabolic pathways were the most significant. Conclusion: The results indicate that SS can effectively improve the low-temperature preservation quality of goat sperm.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.184-188
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• 2001

In a summer study during May to July, involving 12 young Murrah buffalo bulls at forty months of average age, the effects of multiple shower vs single shower body cooling and vitamin A, D and E supplementation on the sexual behaviour, semen quality and freezability were investigated. The animals were divided into two groups (6 animals in each group) and housed in a half-walled shed with proper spacing, the feeding management being identical. The bulls in the control group were given a single shower at 1000 h, whereas the experimental bulls were given four showers at 10,12,14 and 16 h. In addition, the experimental bulls were given vitamin A, D and E injections at fifteen day intervals. The sexual behaviour of bulls was observed in terms of reaction time, sexual aggressiveness and ejaculatory thrust. Semen quality of all the bulls was assessed in terms of volume, mass activity, live-dead sperm and sperm concentration, sperm motility and morphology, and acrosomal abnormality. The sexual behaviour did not vary significantly between the groups, whereas semen quality differed significantly for volume, per cent live sperms, total sperms per ejaculate and total live sperm per ejaculate between groups. It can be concluded that sexual behaviour was not influenced by the thermal comfort treatment coupled with periodic vitamin A, D and E injections. But the treatments improved most of the seminal traits in the experimental group of bulls. However, benefit of treatment was not reflected in the freezability traits of the semen.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.7-24
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• 1983

On the basis of the semen analysis in 66 subjects, they were divided into six different groups: Group I consisted of 16 normal subjects with sperm counts of over 40 ${\times}10^6$/ml and motility of over 40 percent, Group II, 7 subjects with normal sperm counts, but motility of under 40 percent, Group III, 15 oligospermic patients with under 40 ${\times}10^6$/ml, Group IV 14 azoospermic patients, Group V, 10 patients with vasectomy and Group VI, 4 abnormal patients with 2 cases of hypoplastic testis, 1 case of Klinefelter's syndrome and 1 case of testis tumor. After seperation of semen into sperm and seminal plasma by centrifugation, the protein contents and the activities of hyaluronidase, ${\beta}$-N acetylglucosaminidase, ${\beta}$-glucuronidase, arylsulfatase, acrosin and azocoll proteinase in seminal plasma were measured. Vasectomy group has 30 percent less of total protein than normal group. For the comparison of enzyme activities of seminal plasma, it could be assumed that the enzymes in seminal plasma were not contaminated with the enzymes of spermatozoa by testing the enzymes of the seminal plasma from the vasectomy and azoospermic groups. It had been reported that hyaluronidase was only released from spermatozoa, however, the result obtained in this investigation showed that azoospermic and vasectomy group had high specific activities of hyaluronidase. The results indicated that hyaluronidase was not only from the testis but also from the male accessory sexual glands. Oligospermic group (Group III) showed the lowest total activity of hyaluronidase among them. The specific activities of ${\beta}$ -N-acetylglucosaminidase was high in oligospermic group (Group III) and low in vasectomy group (Group V). These results were contradictory with the pattern of hyaluronidase activities. This indicated that the spermatozoa which were stayed in epididymis would increase the activity of this enzyme. The specific activity of ${\beta}$ - glucuronidase was low in oligospermic and vasectomy groups. Group VI including testis tumor had remarkably high arylsulfatase activity. Arylsulfatase, a typical lysosomal enzyme, has been known to be released unusually large amounts from certain tumor cells. Arylsulfatase was also released with high activities from azoospermic and vascetomy group. This result indicated that this enzyme was also released from the sources other than testis. Acrosin, a proteolytic enzyme locating in the sperm acrosome, was not found throughout all the samples of seminal plasma. The activities of azocoll proteinase, a non-specific neutral proteinase was nearly identical in all the groups. This enzyme must have been released from the sources other than testis.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.63-70
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• 2014

Plasminogen activators (PAs) are serine proteases that convert plasminogen to plasmin. Two type of PAs are urokinase-type PA (uPA) and tissue-type PA (tPA). Plasminogen is present in most extracellular fluids. PAs play in various reproductive processes including implantation, ovulation and fertilization. In the spermatozoa, PAs and PAIs play a role in sperm motility and fertilization. PAs in the sertoli cell are stimulated spermatozoa maturation and sperm activation through the phospholipase A2. The oocyte maturation is the process for fertilization and implantation. PAs in cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) are related to oocyte maturation by protein kinase A and C. In the ovulatory process, PAs activity are changed and it are related to reducing the tensile strength of ovarian follicle wall. The uterine environment is important for reproduction and the uterus undergo tissue remodeling. In the uterus and oviduct of mammals, expression and activity of PAs are changed during estrous cycle. Thus, expression and activity of PAs are concerned to many reproductive functions. Therefore, PAs seem to important factor of regulator in reproductive events.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1276-1289
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• 2017

This study isolated and purified the antimicrobial peptide McSSP-31 from an acidified hemocyte extract of a Mytilus coruscus. The antimicrobial peptide was purified by using a $C_{18}$ reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The peptide was determined to be 3330.549 Da by matrix assisted-laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrophotometer (MALDI-TOF/MS). The N-terminus of a 14 amino-acid sequence was identified as P-S-P-T-R-R-S-T-S-R-S-K-S-R by Edman degradation method. The acquired sequence showed a 93% similarity with the sperm-specific protein Phi-1, which is from M. californianus. The identified open-reading frame (ORF) of peptide was 306 bp encoding 101 amino acids, which was analyzed by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), cloning and sequencing analysis. We compared the full sequence with other known proteins that reveal the sperm-specific protein Phi-1 (93.5%) of M. californianus. Synthesized antimicrobial peptide (McSSP-31) showed antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria including B. subtilis, S. mutans, S. aureus and gram-negative bacteria including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis, P. aeruginosa and fungi, C. albicans. Also, synthesized peptide showed strong antibacterial activity against antibiotic-resistant strains, including S. aureus. The cytotoxicity of the peptide was determined by using the HUVEC human cell line. The peptide did not exhibit any significant cytotoxic effects on the normal human cell line, and it had very low hemolytic activity with flounder hemoglobin. The results demonstrated that peptide purified from the hemocyte of a M. coruscus exhibits antibacterial activity against various bacteria and has the potential to be an alternative antibiotic agent.