Quality and fertility of extended boar semen after prolonged transport

Authors: TOMISLAV BARNA, JELENA APIC, ALEKSANDAR MILOVANOVIC, NEVENA MAKSIMOVIC, ALEKSANDAR MASIC, MARINA LAZAREVIC, MILOS PAVLOVIC

Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyse semen quality parameters of fresh-extended porcine semen imported from Denmark through prolonged importing regulations and transport and to analyse fertility performance in sows inseminated four days post semen collection. Semen was analysed immediately upon the arrival (4 days post collection) using computer-assisted sperm analyses (CASA), cytomorphology and flow cytometry, and sows were inseminated later the same day. The mean sperm concentration was 1718.09 ± 100.11 × 106 , with average of 1193.40 ± 90.58 × 106 motile cells (69%) and 756.04 ± 70.57 × 106 progressive motile spermatozoa (43.58%) in a dose, which was almost twice lower in value than producer certified-declared number of 2 billion of motile cells. Acrosome and sperm membrane integrity test indicated high percentage of total damaged acrosome. Mean values of semen samples analysed by sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) showed relatively high degree of chromatin damage. Membrane permeability test showed high percentage of sperm with damaged membrane. Prolonged transport negatively affected the sperm quality in terms of both motility and chromatin structure stability. Fertility of sows was affected by semen quality in terms of concentration and sperm motility parameters, as well as ratio of live sperm cells population with damaged acrosome.

Keywords: Import, semen, boars, computer-assisted sperm analyses (CASA), flow cytometry

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