Relationship between sperm motility characteristics and ATP concentrations, and association with fertility in two different pig breeds

Abstract

Boar fertility has a major impact on overall pig reproductive efficiency. Using accurate and objective in vitro sperm variables for predicting in vivo fertility from a single ejaculate, however, is challenging. Motility is the most widely used indicator of sperm quality, and a computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system is now available for objective assessment of sperm motility characteristics. In this study sperm motility characteristics and semen ATP concentrations were investigated and the effect of both were evaluated on total number of piglets born (TNB) when Norwegian Landrace (NL) and Norwegian Duroc (ND) boar semen was used for AI. In addition, breed differences for semen storage capacity were investigated. The results from CASA analysis indicated there were differences between NL and ND sperm motility variables. The percentage of motile sperm cells decreased in both NL (P = 0.01) and ND (P < 0.0001) during storage. A large proportion of sperm cells with a hyperactive motility pattern were detected in ND semen on the day of collection, with no significant changes as a result of storage. Inconsistent with this finding, there was greater degree of hyper-activation in sperm motility pattern for NL because of semen storage. There was a significant decrease in semen ATP concentration during storage (P < 0.0001) in both breeds. The linearity of sperm movement at the day of collection and the wobble after storage influenced TNB in NL, while the percentage of motile cells, curvilinear velocity and lateral head amplitude on the day of semen collection and linearity after storage influenced TNB in ND.

Frecuencia de fotogramas óptima para evaluar la cinética espermática de verracos con un sistema CASA-Mot

“…Algunos trabajos han hecho aportes en relación con las subpoblaciones y la capacidad fecundante de los eyaculados (Holt et al, 1996;Abaigar et al, 1999;Vyt et al, 2008). En cuanto a la fertilidad, diversos autores han demostrado que existe alguna relación entre los parámetros de cinética espermática y la fertilidad (Holt et al, 1997;Broekhuijse et al, 2012;Schulze et al, 2013;Yániz et al, 2017;Tremoen et al, 2018;Winters et al, 2018).…”

Determination of the optimal concentration of Minitube Equex paste for boar semen cryopreservation based on sperm motility characteristics

“…In terms of artificial insemination, the linearity (LIN) of sperm movement on the day of collection and the wobble (WOB) after storage influenced the total number of piglets born (TNB) in Norwegian Landrace, while the percentage of motile cells, curvilinear velocity (VCL) and lateral head amplitude (ALH) on the day of semen collection and LIN after storage influenced TNB in Norwegian Duroc (Tremoen et al, 2018). Concurrently, the variables VCL, ALH, LIN and WOB affected TNB when using one or more assessment models, and all these variables among the threshold values (receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis) defining the swimming pattern of hyperactive sperm (Schmidt and Kamp, 2004).…”

“…It manifests an active mechanism and membrane integrity and is positively correlated with fertilising capacity (Johnson et al, 2000;Vyt et al, 2004). During recent years, computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) systems have been recommended by the revised WHO manual (World Health Organization, 2010) as a selective means to analyse semen samples, and have been widely used to assess sperm motility characteristics in boar semen (Vyt et al, 2004;Purdy et al, 2010;Tretipskul et al, 2010;Tremoen et al, 2018;Pearodwong et al, 2019).…”

Novel Low-Voltage Electro-Ejaculation Approach for Sperm Collection from Zoo Captive Lanyu Miniature Pigs (Sus barbatus sumatranus)

“…Movement of the sperm cells requires constant energy supplementation (e.g., ATP) provided by functional mitochondria. Defective or dysfunctional sperm mitochondria has been shown to associate with low fertility in many species, including humans, horses, and dogs [ 8 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. We detected severe decline in sperm membrane potential after cryopreservation process, suggesting that the function of mitochondria was affected after cryopreservation.…”