Brüssow KP, Egerszegi I, Rátky J. Is the function of the porcine sperm reservoir restricted to the ovulatory period?
J Reprod Dev 2014;
60:395-8. [PMID:
24964752 PMCID:
PMC4219998 DOI:
10.1262/jrd.2014-044]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The uterotubal junction (UTJ) and caudal isthmus are recognized as a functional pre-ovulatory sperm reservoir (SR).
Spermatozoa are released from the SR in a complex and concerted action. However, whether this functionality is restricted
only to the ovulatory period is still open to debate. Our study was aimed to analyze the presence of spermatozoa within the
UTJ (SR), isthmus (ISTH) and ampulla (AMP) after laparoscopic intrauterine insemination (LIUI) either in the peri- (PERI) or
post-ovulatory (POST) period or at mid cycle (MID). Each uterine horn of estrus synchronized gilts (n=12) was inseminated
with 20 ml sperm (29.5×106 cells/ml). Oviducts were recovered 7 h after LIUI and separated into the UTJ, ISTH and
AMP, and sections were flushed with 10 ml PBS+EDTA solution. After centrifugation, the sperm pellet was evaluated by Čeřovský
staining. The median sperm numbers in the PERI, POST and MID groups were 578, 171 and 789 in the UTJ; 545, 233 and 713 in the
ISTH; and 496, 280 and 926 in the AMP, respectively, and there were differences between the POST and MID groups (P<0.05)
but not between the oviductal sections of each group (P>0.05). Compared with the MID group, the percent of intact sperm
cells was higher (P<0.01) in the PERI and POST groups (32.8 vs. 66.4 and 76.8%). Also,
the percentages of aberrations in the acrosome and tail were higher (P<0.05) in the MID group. Based on this, it can be
assumed that the sperm reservoir is active during different phases of the estrus cycle. However, the mid-cycle oviduct
environment considerably impairs sperm cell quality.
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