• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2023

Objective: Sleep deprivation (SD) is a common problem in today's stressful lifestyle and have physiological consequences, including reproductive dysfunction and infertility. As an antioxidant, olive oil may be effective in reducing testicular and spermatological damage by decreasing the production of free radicals. Methods: This study investigated the effects of olive oil on sperm quality and testicular structure using stereological methods to assess rats with SD. Results: When comparing SD group to grid floor+distilled water (GR) group, we found that the sperm count and motility, as well as the percentage of slow progressive sperm was significantly lower in SD group (p<0.05), but the percentage of immotile sperm was higher (p<0.01). However, no improvement was observed in sperm count or motility after concomitant treatment of SD group with olive oil. Stereological examinations revealed no significant change in the total volumes of the seminiferous tubules, interstitial tissue, and germinal epithelium in the study groups. Conversely, the total number of testicular cell types was significantly lower in SD group than in GR group. Although the total number of Sertoli and Leydig cells was significantly higher in the S +olive oil group than in the untreated SD group, no significant difference in the total number of other testicular cell types was observed between the two groups. Conclusion: SD potentially induced structural changes in testis that affected sperm count and motility. However, olive oil only improved the total number of Sertoli and Leydig cells in the animals with SD and did not improve sperm count and motility.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.35-42
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• 1981

A total 2,488 ejaculates during 4 years from 80 Korean native bulls over the age from 3 to 12 years of bull herds of Artificial Breeding Center, National Livestock Federatives Cooperation were collected and analyzed to study the effects of collection year, age of bulls, month of years, collection interval and ejaculation frequency per day on semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm per ejaculate and sperm motility. 1. Semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm per ejaculate and sperm motility index for the all ejaculates using least squares procedure averaged 5.73ml, 9.133${\times}$108/ml, 52.527${\times}$108 and 62.81, respectively. 2. Semen volume varied significantly with collection year, collection interval and ejaculation frequency per day(P<0.01), but effects of age of bulls and month of years on semen volume were not significant. Eight to 15 days collection interval showed the highest volume, and 1st ejaculate contained 5.6% more volume than 2nd ejaculate. 3. There were significant differences among collection years, months of years and ejeculation frequencies per day except collection intervals in sperm concentration per ml(P<0.05, P<0.01). Six to 8-year-old bulls was the highest concentration. Higher sperm concentration per ml was in April to July and lower month was October and December. Sperm concentration in 2nd ejaculate was higher than in 1st ejaculate. 4. Total sperm per ejaculate affected by all environmental factors studied(P<0.05, P<0.01). Age of bulls, collection interval and ejaculation frequency per day showed the highest total sperm was 6 to 8-year-old bulls, 8 to 15 days interval and 1st ejaculate, respectively. Higher total sperm per ejaculate was in April to July and lower total sperm was in September to December. 5. In sperm motility, there were significant differences among collection years, ages of bulls and collection intervals except months of years and ejaculation frequencies (P<0.01). Higher sperm motility was in 6 to 12-year-old bulls and in 5 to 7 days collection interval.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2015

Preservation of liquid semen is an important factor for breeding management in swine industry. Oxidative stress of spermatozoa during liquid preservation has a detrimental effect on sperm quality and decreases fertility. Objective of this study was to determine the effect of antioxidant, Quercetin, on capability of porcine liquid semen preservation. Freshly collected porcine semen from boars (n=3), having proven fertility was counted, diluted to $3{\times}10^7/mL$ and divided into 5 different semen extenders. Aliquots of diluted semen with different extenders were subjected to measure the pH, motility, viability and sperm DNA structure status on elapse time after preservation for 10 days. For the first 3 days, semen preserved in all 5 different extenders maintained their initial pH and either gradually decreased or increased thereafter, indicating lipid peroxidation has started. Sperm motility (r=0.52, p=0.01) and viability (r=0.55, p=0.03) had positive correlation with semen pH. Sperm motility was maintained well (p<0.05) in especially 2 extenders containing Tris and antioxidant compared to other extenders, suggesting both Tris and antioxidant worked as pH regulator and had beneficial effects on sperm characteristic during preservation. Sperm DNA structure status accessed by sperm chromatin structure assay on elapsed time after preservation, tended to be higher in semen preserved without antioxidant. Taken together, addition of antioxidant to extender prevents the sperm from oxidative stress during storage in mechanism by which antioxidant slows the lipid peroxidation, and thus reduced the reactive oxygen species in preserved porcine semen resulted in maintaining semen pH, sperm motility and viability for 7~10 days.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2023

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships of serum folate (vitamin B9), cobalamin (vitamin B12) levels and diet with semen parameters (semen standard parameters [SSP] and DNA fragmentation index [DFI]) in infertile men. Methods: Sperm samples were assessed for SSP and DFI (using the sperm chromatin dispersion test). Serum vitamin concentrations were measured with an immuno-electrochemiluminescence assay, and men completed a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Results: Serum folate levels were positively correlated with sperm progressive motility and DFI. A comparison of SSP between two groups of patients according to serum folate concentration (B9 <4.840 ng/mL and B9 ≥4.840 ng/mL) showed significantly higher sperm concentration and sperm progressive motility in the latter group. However, there was no difference between these groups regarding DFI. Interestingly, serum folate levels were significantly higher in patients with a high DFI (using the cut-offs of 30% or 18%). FFQ data showed that the consumption of fruits and egg yolk correlated positively with sperm concentration and sperm motility, respectively. Conclusion: Serum folate levels showed significant associations with sperm concentration and sperm progressive motility. However, the positive association of serum folate with DFI raises the need for careful prescription of folate supplements.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.275-279
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• 2009

The beneficial effect of glycerol as a cryoprotectant, especially for sperm cryopreservation, has been shown in many studies. However, glycerol is toxic to living cells, and boar sperm in particular show greater sensitivity to glycerol than sperm from other domestic animals. Amides have been studied as alternative cryoprotectants for freezing stallion sperm. Sperm frozen in methylformamide or dimethylformamide as cryoprotectants show similar motility when thawed compared with sperm frozen in glycerol. We evaluated the cryoprotective effects of dimethylformamide on boar sperm freezing. To test the effect of amides, the concentration of boar semen was adjusted to $10^9sperm/mL$, and seminal plasma was removed using Hulsen solution. After centrifugation, the pellet was diluted in modified-Modena B extender. Lactose-egg yolk (LEY) extender was used as the cooling extender. The freezing extender was madeed aaddition of the optimal amount of glycerol and amides to LEY-Glycerol-Orvus ES Paste extender, and this extender was used for the second dilution. Diluted sperm were frozen in liquid nitrogen using the 0.5 mL straw method. Sperm frozen in extender with glycerol as a cderol were compared with those frozen in extender including the different amides. Sperm were tested for motility, viability, the sperm chromatin structure assay, and normal apical ridge after thawing. The percent of motile sperm diluted in glycerol was as high as that in the stallion study (61%). Dimethylformamide showed positive effects on sperm quality and was better than glycerol. Methylformamide provided similar sperm quality as glycerol. Therefore, dimethylformamide is useful for reducing cryoinjury in boar sperm and is expected to be useful as an alternative cryoprotectant.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.241-246
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of storage time on fresh boar semen in Androhep and Beltsville Thawing Solution (BTS). Boar semen samples extended in each extender were stored at $17^{\circ}C$ up to 4 days. Sperm motility kinematics was evaluated by computer assisted sperm analyzer (CASA) and capacitation status by chlortetracycline (CTC)/Hoechst 33258 staining. Sperm motility (%) was not decreased during storage in BTS and Androhep. No significant difference between extenders was observed. Only significant differences in kinematic parameters on linearity during storage were found. The percentage of dead sperm significantly decreased during storage (p<0.05). Also the percentage of noncapacitated, capacitated, and acrosome-reacted sperm significantly modified during storage (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between extenders except proportion of capacitated sperm. This finding supported that modification in these parameters was not significantly different between extenders during this short-term storage. Our finding strongly indicated that both Androhep and BIS maintained favorable conditions for motility, motility kinematics, and capacitation status during short-term storage. Despite modifications in some parameters were apparent during sperm storage in extenders, these may not affect the fertilizing capacity of boar semen.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.57-60
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• 1989

This study was carried out to evaluate the possibility of sex preselection by gradients methods using bovine serum albumin in rabbits. Artificial insemination was performed with sperm from the top and bottom layer of rabbit semen separated by bovine serum albumin gradients. Various characteristics of separated sperm, and the conception rate and secondary sex ratio at artificial insemination with separated sperm were compared. The results obtained were as follows. 1. The sperm from the bottom layer showed significanty high value in motility, percent of normal sperm and progressive motility as compared with control sperm and the sperm and the sperm from the top layer. 2. The conception rate of sperm from the bottom layer was higher than that of the top layer. But secondary sex ratio was not altered by this methods.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.121-125
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• 2013

This study was carried out to investigate the general characteristics of semen such as semen volume, pH, sperm motility and sperm concentration of the semen collected from Shih Tzu dogs (age of 24 to 48 months, weight of 4 to 8 kg) by using the method of digital manipulation of the penis. The effect of preservation temperature and time on motility of fresh semen was also investigated in the present study. Semen was collected for 16 times from 4 male Shih Tzu dogs by multiple ejaculations (four times ejaculation per dog). The average of semen volume, semen pH, sperm motility and sperm concentration of the second fraction containing small volume of the initial third fraction per ejaculation were $2.11{\pm}0.31$ ml, $6.25{\pm}0.07$, $97.59{\pm}1.03%$ and $2.05{\pm}0.14{\times}10^8$ cells/ml, respectively. Average semen volume per ejaculate, semen pH, sperm motility and sperm concentration of the first fraction from the ejaculation were $1.12{\pm}0.15$ ml, $5.99{\pm}0.14$, $16.09{\pm}6.18%$ and $5.16{\pm}2.03{\times}10^5$ cells/ml, respectively. Those of second fraction were $2.07{\pm}0.29$ ml, $6.36{\pm}0.13$, $97.31{\pm}1.36%$ and $2.15{\pm}0.30{\times}10^8$ cells/ml, respectively. Those of third fraction were $2.60{\pm}0.29$ ml, $6.63{\pm}0.08$, $95.72{\pm}1.61%$ and $6.03{\pm}1.83{\times}10^7$ cells/ml, respectively. Sperm motility was significantly higher at $17^{\circ}C$ preservation temperature than at $5^{\circ}C$ or $36^{\circ}C$ during preservation period except 1 h preservation (P<0.05). When preservation temperature was $17^{\circ}C$, sperm motility was $96.69{\pm}1.49%$ at 1 h, $91.38{\pm}1.90%$ at 6 h, $88.38{\pm}2.34%$ at 12 h, $78.13{\pm}4.58%$ at 18 h, $58.44{\pm}8.57%$ at 24 h and $29.56{\pm}5.06%$ at 30 h, respectively.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.5
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• pp.1194-1203
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• 2021

Preparation of recipient stallions is critical step to produce donor spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) derived sperm using transplantation technique. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of intravenous busulfan infusion on germ cell depletion, semen production, and libido in stallions. Six Thoroughbred stallions were separated into two treatment groups: 1) a multiple low-dose (2.5 mg/kg bw for the first 4 weeks and 5 mg/kg bw for the 5th week); and 2) control group treated with PBS. Testicular samples were obtained at 11 weeks and classified into three different patterns of spermatogenesis, such as normal, Sertoli cell only, and destroyed. Semen collection and libido experiments were performed 1 week before treatment, and 4 and 8 weeks after treatment. For the sperm analysis, total spermatozoa and motility were measured using a light microscope with a motility analyzing system. In the multiple low-dose group, the numbers of tubules categorized as Sertoli cell only were significantly higher than those in the control as well as the total population and total/progressive motility of sperm were significantly decreased 8 weeks after the start of the treatment. The sperm production and motility in the multiple low-dose group appears to be reduced, while libido was maintained. In conclusion, multiple administration of 2.5 mg/kg bw busulfan depletes endogenous germ cells in the stallion recipients for SSC transplantation.