• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2006

This study was conducted to establish a convenient freezing method of boar semen. Boar semen was cooled until $5^{\circ}C$ for 3 hrs using cell freezer and loaded into straws. Semen straws were frozen in different steps in strofoam box filled with $LN_2$. Highest sperm viability (54.0%) was obtained by 1-step freezing(holding at 10 cm height from the surface of $LN_2$ for 10 min). Sperm viability increased by holding at $-102^{\circ}C$ for 10min (74.0%, P<0.05). In thawing regime, sperm viability was significantly higher in $37^{\circ}C$ group than in $52^{\circ}C$ group. The sperm characteristics did not differ between 1-step and 3-step. After IVF using frozen-thawed boar semen, developmental rate of embryos to the morula+blastocyst stage was in 1-step freezing group than that of 3-step freezing group (27.5 vs 14.7%, P<0.05). The result shows that the 1-step freezing with holding at $-102^{\circ}C$ for 10min before plunging into $LN_2$ is a convenient and easy freezing method for boar semen.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2012

The objective of this study is to estimate the effect of adding TES to LEY and FGE freezing extender for the sperm viability, acrosomal morphology and DNA fragmentation from miniature pig sperm, we evaluated sperm characteristics in TFGE, TLE and LEY with various thawing condition ($37^{\circ}C$ for 20 sec, 45 sec and $75^{\circ}C$ for 5 sec, respectively), and in different concentration of glycerol at 1%, 1.5%, 3%. The sperm viability and normal acrosome intact(NAI) in TFGE (Viability : $60.3{\pm}2.4$, NAI : $58.6{\pm}2.2%$), TLE ($61.3{\pm}2.4$, $62.2{\pm}2.2%$) extender significantly(p<0.05) increased than that in LEY ($50.2{\pm}2.4$, $54.5{\pm}2.2%$) extender thawed at $75^{\circ}C$ for 5 sec. According to the results from glycerol concentration, the viability and NAI of miniature pig sperm in 1.5% glycerol TLE ($66.1{\pm}3.2$, $66.2{\pm}1.0%$) was highest among the experimental groups. In accordance with this, DNA fragmentation rates was the lowest in TLE ($43.3{\pm}0.5%$) while that in LEY ($63.5{\pm}2.3%$) is the highest. Therefore, these results suggest that TLE extender method for freezing- thawing of miniature pig sperm increased the viability after thawing.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.117-126
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• 2022

Objective: This study examined whether the addition of triple antioxidants (3A)-10 µM acetyl-L-carnitine, 10 µM N-acetyl-L-cysteine, and 5 µM α-lipoic acid-in freezing-thawing medium during human sperm cryopreservation using the sucrose vitrification (SuV) and liquid nitrogen vapor (Vapor) techniques could improve post-thaw survival of spermatozoa. Methods: We analyzed 30 samples from healthy human sperm donors. Each sample was allocated into one of five groups: fresh control, SuV, SuV+3A, Vapor, and Vapor+3A. The sperm motility, morphology, viability, intracellular and extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) were evaluated. Results: The cryopreserved spermatozoa had significantly reduced percentages of motility (p<0.05) and viability (p<0.05). Antioxidant supplementation non-significantly improved these parameters (p>0.05). No significant differences were found in sperm morphology between the fresh and frozen-thawed groups (p>0.05). After freezing, the extracellular ROS levels in the frozen-thawed groups were significantly higher (p<0.05) than in the fresh group. However, we did not find any differences in intracellular ROS parameters among these groups (p>0.05). The SDF was higher in the SuV and Vapor groups than in the fresh group, but without statistical significance (p=0.075 and p=0.077, respectively). Conclusion: Cryopreservation had detrimental effects on sperm motility, viability, and extracellular ROS levels, without changing the morphology or intracellular ROS levels. Antioxidant supplementation was slightly effective in preventing SDF in frozen-thawed spermatozoa.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2003

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of cryopreservation by slow and rapid freezing on the sperm motility index, viability and morphology of post-thaw human spermatozoa. After rapid freezing and thawing, sperm motility index was significantly higher (MOT:47.40$\pm$20.06%, VCL : 38.12$\pm$15.58 $\mu$m/s, VSL : 28.19$\pm$14.10 $\mu$m/s, VAP:33.64$\pm$15.15 $\mu$m/s, and HYP 2.77$\pm$2.71%) than slow freezing and thawing(MOT : 43.39$\pm$ 18.79%, VCL .33.91 $\pm$ 13.50 Um/s, VSL . 19.98$\pm$0.88 $\mu$m/s, VAP : 24.60$\pm$11.72 $\mu$m/s, and HYP . 1.33$\pm$1.57% ; P<0.05). But sperm Linearity(LIN) was significantly lower(28.83 $\pm$ 10.35) comparing to the slow freezing method(34.64 $\pm$ 11.36 ; P<0.05). On the other hand, significant difference were not observed MAD, WOB, DNC and DNM by slow and rapid frozen-thawed methods. After rapid freezing and thawing, sperm viability was lower(60 $\pm$ 2.2%) than slow freezing method(62 $\pm$2.1%) and sperm morphology was higher(46$\pm$7.7%) than that(44: 8.3). But there was no significantly These results indicate that rapid freezing method was positive effect of sperm cryopreservation in human.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.297-302
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• 2013

Cryopreservation of epididymal spermatozoa offers a potential tool for rescuing genetic material from males of genetically elite populations. Castration, catastrophic injury, sudden death or any other event that makes semen collection or mating impossible may prematurely terminate a stallion reproduction. Stallion epididymal spermatozoa vary widely in the loss of progressive motility, acrosomal integrity, and viability during freezing and thawing. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of (1) freezing package types on cryopreservation efficiency, (2) thawing temperatures (37, 56 or $70^{\circ}C$) on Computer Assisted Sperm Analysis (CASA) parameters and (3) post-thawing incubation time (0, 1, 2 or 4h) on castrated stallion epididymis. Post-thawed sperm motility ranged between 59.69% and 64.28% ($56^{\circ}C$ and $37^{\circ}C$) in various thawing temperatures. When stallion epididymis sperm was frozen, straw was better than freezing tube on VCL (Velocity of Curvilinear Line) and VAP (Velocity of Average Path) parameter. Higher percentage of motility was observed at $37^{\circ}C$ thawing temperature even though no significant difference was observed among various temperatures. The motility, VCL, ALH (Amplitude of Lateral Head displacement), VAP, BCF (Beat-Cross Frequency) and STR (Straightness index) parameter of post-thawed sperm were significantly decreased by increasing the incubation time for all thawing temperatures. The present study showed that type of freezing package (Straw vs. Freezing tube) was not significantly different on cryopreservation efficiency. Furthermore, stallion epididymal spermatozoa frozen-thawed at $37^{\circ}C$ for 1 min resulted the highest proportion of motility and velocity movement. In addition, motility and viability of frozen-thawed stallion epididymal spermatozoa were also decreased by incubation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Veterinary Clinics Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.251-251
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• 2009

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2016

The recovery of epididymal sperm in animals is considered as one of the important tools to preserve high value or endangered species. However, there are no appropriate castrating indicators such as months of age in bull, sperm morphology, and motility, particularly in young Korean native bull (Hanwoo). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate sperm number, morphology, and motility of sperm in the epididymis tail of young Hanwoo bulls at 8 and 15 months of age. After castration, epididymal tails were collected and minced with blades to recover sperm. In experiments 1 and 2, sperm number, morphology, and motility were examined. Total number of sperm and percentage of normal sperm from bulls at 8 months of age was lower than that of bulls at 15 months of age after collection (P<0.05). Percentage of abnormal head, tail, proximal cytoplasmic droplet, dead and damaged acrosome of sperm from bulls at 8 months of age were higher than those of bulls at 15 months of age (P<0.05). In experiment 3, sperm motility from bulls at 8 and 15 months of age were examined before freezing and after thawing. Frozen-thawed sperm at 8 months of age showed low total motility and motile sperm with ${\geq}25{\mu}m/sec$ compared to those at 15 months of age and commercially-used sperm (P<0.05). In conclusion, sperm derived from the epididymal tail of bulls at 8 months of age showed high abnormal morphology and poor motility, which are not adequate for AI and IVF. On the other hand, sperm derived from the epididymal tail of bulls at 15 months of age showed high normal morphology and motility.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.901-905
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• 2000

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of caffeine, cAMP and cattle seminal plasma on preservation of semen at ultra low temperature ($-196{^{\circ}C}$). Each semen sample was divided into four parts equal in volume and sperm concentration; three were treated with caffeine, or cAMP, or cattle seminal plasma (CSP) and the fourth was kept as control. Sperm motility, abnormal spermatozoa, live-dead count and acrosomal damage were studied at different stages of freeze preservation viz.; just after dilution, at $5{^{\circ}C}$, at glycerolisation, before freezing, just after freezing, 24 hours of storage, and one week of storage. Sperm motility (58.39, 61.33, 52.00 and 50.39 per cent), non-eosinophilic spermatozoa (72.55, 69.98, 63.31 and 67.64 per cent), abnormal spermatozoa (5.71, 4.98, 8.04 and 5.66 per cent) and acrosomal damage (13.28, 13.33, 14.80 and 14.65 per cent) were observed in cAMP, caffeine, cattle seminal plasma and control, respectively, at every stage of freeze preservation. From this study it could be concluded that freezability of buffalo semen can be improved through the addition of caffeine followed by cAMP and cattle seminal plasma.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.791-796
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• 2014

Cryopreservation of epididymal sperm is an effective technique to preserve genetic materials of domestic cats and wild felids when they unexpectedly die. However, this technique inevitably causes detrimental changes of cryopreserved-thawed spermatozoa, for example, by physical damage and excessive oxidative stress. L-carnitine is an antioxidant that has been used to improve sperm motility in humans and domestic animals. This study aimed to investigate the effects of L-carnitine on cat epididymal sperm quality following cryopreservation and thawing. After routine castration, cauda epididymides were collected from 60 cat testes. The epididymal spermatozoa from 3 cauda epididymides were pooled as 1 replicate. Spermatozoa samples (16 replicates) were examined for spermatozoa quality and then randomly divided into 4 groups: 0 mM L-carnitine (control), 12.5 mM, 25 mM and 50 mM L-carnitine. The sperm aliquots were then equilibrated and conventionally frozen. After thawing, sperm motility, plasma membrane integrity, DNA integrity and acrosome integrity were evaluated. The 25 mM L-carnitine significantly improved sperm motility compared with a control group (p<0.05), although this was not significantly different among other concentrations. In conclusion, supplementation of 25 mM L-carnitine in freezing extender improves cauda epididymal spermatozoa motility. The effects of L-carnitine on the levels of oxidative stress during freezing and thawing remains to be examined.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.74-74
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• 2003

In present study, attempts were made to preserve abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) sperm in liquid form at low temperature, to evaluate the effect of various diluents in short-term storage on sperm, and cryopreservation procedures were optimized for the cryoprotectants as well as freezing rates, in terms of the motility and survival rate, and the ultrastructural changes of sperm after short-term storage and cryopreservation were observed. The abalone sperm reached maximum motility until about 4min after activation. The motility was constant for about 16min, after which it dropped gradually, and about 50min later all motility ceased. Threshold activation of sperm was found in 40% artificial seawater (ASW), and motility increased as the concentration of ASW increased. In Hanks balanced salt solution without calcium (Ca-Free HBSS, 300 and 400 mOsmol/kg) and 10%, 20%, and 30% ASW the sperm was immotile, and motility once again restored incompletely only in HBSS of 300 and 400 mOsmol/kg, 20% and 30% ASW after 100% ASW was added. Sperm motility was extended following 20 days of cold storage only in 70% and 100% ASW. A high motility index of 3.5-4.5 was observed for the first 8 days in 70% and 80% ASW. In other diluents sperm motility was constant less than 10 days, and the motility index was obviously lower than that of sperm in 70% and 100% ASW. After 20 days of cold storage survival rates of 10.2%-20.7% were obtained in ASW and 300 mOsmol/kg HBSS, and that in 400 HBSS (65.3%) was significantly higher than others. The constant period of sperm motility stored in 70% ASW was longer obviously than that in 100% ASW after 6 days of storage, and the time to maximum motility of sperm stored in 70% increased gradually, while the difference in which of sperm in 100% ASW was not significant. The sperm plunged into liquid nitrogen all died except that sperm using 15% glycerol as cryoprotectant restored 10.4% of motility. The highest motility index (3.4) was obtained with 5% glycerol and freezing procedure: $50^{\circ}C$/min from $20^{\circ}C$ to $-80^{\circ}C$.