Sperm motility is a physical parameter evaluated in semen samples of the bull and is thought to be related to the fertility in the male. Despite being a characteristic of simple and fast evaluation, motility estimates involve subjective components when analyzed by light microscopy (LM) that might restrain their evaluation in some conditions. Moreover, in some species, poor correlations were observed between spermatozoa motility and semen fertility. The incidence of coherent light in a semen sample generates a phenomenon called biospeckle (BSL) that is capable of measuring the kinetics activity of the spermatozoa. In this work the relationship among sperm kinetics variables evaluated by LM and BSL and conception rates in beef heifers was investigated, with the purpose to predict frozen semen fertility when laser light is used. Sixty semen samples of 6 mature AI donor bulls (Bos taurus indicus) herein named A, B, C, D, E, and F were thawed at 37°C for 30 s in a water bath and evaluated by LM and BSL. In LM evaluation, an index (IND) was proposed to group together, in a single mean estimate, the spermatozoa motility (M: % scale) and velocity (V: 1 to 5 scale) according to the equation IND = [V × 20 + M]/2. In the BSL evaluation, each sample was illuminated (n = 10 per bull) by a laser beam (He-Ne, 632 nm and 10 MW) for 40 s and a mean inertial moment (IM) was obtained for each donor bull. These semen samples were used in an AI program of beef heifers (n = 166) clinically examined for reproductive health, body condition, and weight. Pregnancy diagnosis was done by ultrasound images (Falco 100, 6 MHz, Pie Medical, Crawley, UK) 28 days after insemination. Fertility estimates were done by the generalized linear model using logistic regression (stepwise methodology), generating an equation to predict the conception rate of the semen, the variables of which were IM and IND. Results of the predicted conception rates (pCR) using IM and IND and the observed conception rates (oCR) were A (0.5490; 0.57), B (0.6483; 0.68), C (0.7108; 0.71), D (0.4552; 0.28), E (0.4797; 0.54), F (0.3825; 0.47), respectively. Positive correlations (P < 0.05) were observed between pCR and oCR (r = 0.79) showing a similar behavior between in vitro and in vivo estimates. Results of this work showed that there is a high correlation between spermatozoa kinetics and semen fertility in the bull and that BSL motility analysis could be used as an approach to evaluate the fertility of semen samples. Financial support: FAPEMIG grant EDT 94/07, CNPq.
The biospeckle (BSL) is based on the incidence of laser light upon active biological materials, followed by analysis and manipulation of secondary images, and then, application to those images of a second-order statistics technique called the inertial moment (IM) that results in information about the activity of the specimen. This technique was previously used to analyze sperm motility. A bull’s fertility could be evaluated by several semen parameters in vitro and more precisely by conception rates of AI heifers. The objective of this work was to evaluate the fertility of bull’s frozen semen showing different levels of activity in an AI program. Semen of 6 mature IA donor bulls (Bos taurus indicus) was previously divided in 2 groups (group I: motility ≥50%; group II: motility <50%), each group comprising 3 animals. Sperm concentration was 30 to 35 × 106 cells per straw. Semen was thawed at 37°C for 30 s in a water bath. Samples were illuminated by nonpolarized He-Ne laser (632 nm, 10 mW) for 40 s, the time needed to take 512 images under a time rate of 0.08 s. Images were acquired by a CCD camera and analyses were conducted by building space-time speckle matrices from center columns of 512 images of the dynamic speckle and then the IM was calculated. Beef heifers (n = 109) under the same nutrition and management conditions underwent AI with the semen samples. All inseminations were done by the same technician and donor bulls were used consecutively throughout the breeding season. Pregnancy diagnosis was done by ultrasound images (Falco 100, 6 MHz, Pie Medical, Crawley, UK) 28 days after insemination. The SISVAR software was used for variance analysis and comparison of means by Tukey test at a nominal level of 5%. The IM (194.13 ± 31.99) obtained from 10 illuminations per sample of each bull and the conception rate (CR) of group I (CR = 0.63 ± 0.49) differed (P < 0.05) compared with group II (IM = 142.03 ± 30.62; CR = 0.43 ± 0.50). Pearson correlation coefficient (P < 0.05) between IM and CR was r = 0.21, showing coherence with IM and CR, despite its low value. These data showed that second-order statistics are correlated to semen fertility and could be used to evaluate ejaculates of the bull. Financial support: FAPEMIG grant EDT 94/07 and CNPq.
Com o objetivo de caracterizar os consumidores de produtos de origem animal (POA) na cidade de Lavras, Minas Gerais conforme suas percepções em relação ao serviço de inspeção de POA e conceitos sobre segurança dos alimentos foi elaborado um formulário de entrevista com questões objetivas e dissertativas referentes à condição social, grau de escolaridade, conhecimento da importância do serviço de inspeção e de possíveis doenças veiculadas por POA. Os locais de aplicação das entrevistas foram selecionados por amostragem aleatória simples entre os supermercados de maior representatividade no município. Utilizou-se uma amostra de 101 consumidores, que foram abordados aleatoriamente, de ambos os sexos e com idade superior a 18 anos de idade. Os resultados foram obtidos através de uma análise descritiva dos dados coletados. Foi observado um desconhecimento a respeito do serviço de inspeção de POA (76%), assim como da atuação do Médico Veterinário na preservação da saúde de tais consumidores (85%). Embora 92% dos entrevistados demonstrem um conhecimento referente às possíveis doenças transmitidas por alimentos de origem duvidosa, quando foram questionados em relação às vantagens em consumir um produto de origem animal inspecionado, 23% afirmaram não saber sobre tais vantagens, ou relacionaram com a qualidade do produto (28%) e segurança dos alimentos (36%). Como qualidade do produto, os consumidores entendem como sendo aqueles alimentos dentro do prazo de validade, não sendo comercializados deteriorados, podendo assim oferecer algum risco a sua saúde. Em relação à segurança dos alimentos eles alegaram como sendo a garantia de uma adequada procedência destes produtos certificados. Diante desta realidade se faz necessário um trabalho de conscientização junto aos consumidores, enfatizando a importância da certificação sanitária e as possíveis doenças de caráter zoonótico transmissíveis por POA. APOIO: CNPq e FAPEMIG
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