Age-related changes in quality and fertility of porcine semen

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the eff ect of boar age on quality traits and fertility of liquid-stored semen. Boars were allocated into 3 age groups: 7-10 months (young), 18-33 months (mature), 51-61 months (old). Ejaculates of ≥ 200x10 6 sperm/ml and 85% total motile sperm were extended to 30x10 6 sperm/ml, stored at 17-18 °C and used within 12-24 h for artifi cial insemination (AI) of 2062 multiparous sows. After 24 h of storage, aliquots of diluted semen were assessed for sperm progressive motility (SPM), incidence of sperm chromatin instability (SCI), proportion of live morphologically normal sperm (LMNS) and head morphometry of LMNS. The results showed that young boars had higher percentages of SCI and lower proportions of LMNS than those of the mature (p < 0.05) and old (p < 0.001) boars, respectively. Sperm head dimensions of young and old boars were greater (p < 0.03-0.001) than those of mature boars. The farrowing rate of young boars (65%) was signifi cantly lower (p < 0.001; χ 2 = 30-61) than those of the mature (87.2%) and old (84.7%) boars. The relationship between sperm head dimensions and boar fertility was non-signifi cant. In conclusion, boar age is an important physiological factor contributing to the success of swine AI.

Production and Quality of Semen in Boars in Insemination Centre

“…After reaching the age of 3 years, the numbers of spermatozoa in ejaculate recorded a decrease to 101.71 bn in the case of total number of spermatozoa and 66.81 bn in the case of corrected number of spermatozoa (p < 0.05). Many authors have stated that quality of boar semen increased with age (Bonet et al, 2013;Kumaresan et al, 2011;Tsakmakidis et al, 2012), which is confirmed in this work, but only up to 3 years of age. According to Bonet et al (2013), Zduńczyk et al (2011) and Araujo and Wittert (2011), the production of spermatozoa depends on the testosterone level, which varies during testicular development, puberty and sexual maturity.…”

Sperm DNA integrity in Landrace and Duroc boar semen and its relationship to litter size

“…This finding is supported by the observation that for NL boars, the level of DNA fragmentation decreases by increased boar age. A recent study has reported a lower incidence of chromatin instability in semen from mature boars (18–33 months) compared to young boars (7–10 months) and old boars (51–61 months) (Tsakmakidis, Khalifa, & Boscos, ). In comparison, our samples are limited to the young and mature age groups, and for NL boars, our results are in accordance with the observation by Tsakmakidis et al ().…”

“…A recent study has reported a lower incidence of chromatin instability in semen from mature boars (18–33 months) compared to young boars (7–10 months) and old boars (51–61 months) (Tsakmakidis, Khalifa, & Boscos, ). In comparison, our samples are limited to the young and mature age groups, and for NL boars, our results are in accordance with the observation by Tsakmakidis et al (). Sampling of Duroc semen in this study was stopped at an even lower age due to more frequent change of boars in the breeding system used, which may have influenced a lack of significant age effect on the DFI levels.…”

Analysis of testicular variables, semen motility and kinematics‐derived indexes in boar using a CASA‐Mot system

“…Testicular measurements are one of these characteristics, and their measurement varies with boar age (Fraser, Strzezek, Filipowicz, MogieInicka‐Brzozowka, & Zasiadczk, ; Savić, Petroviý, Rodojković, Radović, & Parunović, ; Schulze, Buder, Rüdiger, Beyerbach, & Waberski, ; Tsakmakidis, Khalifa, & Boscos, ) and the time of the year (Fraser et al, ; Górski, Kondracki, & Wysokińska, ; Sancho et al, ; Torre et al, ; Zasiadczyk, Fraser, Kordan, & Wasilewka, ). Testicular measurements have been used in testicle weight prediction (Davis & Hines, ; Ford & Wise, ), and these measurements have been previously correlated with sperm quality and spermatogenesis (Clark, Schaeffer, & Althouse, ; Jacyno, Kawęcka, Pietruszka, Sosnowska, Kawęcka, Pietruszka, & Sosnowska, ; Savić et al, ).…”