Effect of swim up and Percoll treatment on viability and acrosome integrity of frozen-thawed bull spermatozoa

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the swim up and Percoll methods to select frozen-thawed bull spermatozoa with high quality membrane and acrosomal integrity and final concentration. Semen samples from six Holstein-Friesian bulls were examined. The whole experiment was repeated three times. Before and after both treatments, spermatozoa were subjected to a double-staining method and evaluated by brightfield light microscope using 40x dry, or 100x oil immersion objectives. The concentration of spermatozoa evaluated by haemocytometer was 8.8 x 10(7)/ml after thawing, and the percentage of live cells with intact acrosome was 45.8%. Both treatments significantly increased the proportion of live spermatozoa compared with no treatment, and the use of Percoll gradient resulted in a significantly higher percentage of living cells with an intact acrosome (88.2%) than the swim up method (69.4%). The concentration of spermatozoa after Percoll separation (9.3 x 10(6)/ml) was higher than that after the swim up method (5.8 x 10(6)/ml). These results indicate that spermatozoa with a higher viability and acrosome integrity can be obtained by Percoll separation than by the swim up method. Therefore the use of Percoll-treated spermatozoa in IVF systems can be more expedient.

Simultaneous evaluation of viability and acrosome integrity of mouse spermatozoa using light microscopy

Determination of the percentage of live cells with intact acrosomes and no morphologic aberrations could be a practical index of semen quality. We applied viability and acrosome staining techniques, originally described for bull, boar and rabbit sperm, to mouse spermatozoa. The viability stain was either trypan blue or Congo red. The stain was precipitated by neutral red in the fixative. The acrosome was stained by Giemsa. Sperm morphology, including cytoplasmic droplets, could be evaluated as well. The staining method described here is a useful routine tool for simultaneous evaluation of the plasma membrane integrity of different sperm subdomains, the status of the acrosome, and cellular morphology.

Evaluation of sperm tail membrane integrity by light microscopy

During routine evaluation of trypan blue-Giemsa stained semen smears, sperm cells can be found with unstained heads and with stained tails. It was hypothesized that these cells were immotile and should not be considered as live. Sperm motility was determined in isoosmotic, and presumably isotonic trypan blue-stained wet preparations. Bull, ram and boar semen smears were stained with hypoosmotic trypan blue-Giemsa to compare the relationship between the percentage of stained sperm tails and the percentage of sperm tails remaining straight under hypoosmotic conditions. Actively moving spermatozoa with unstained heads, but with stained tails were never observed in wet preparations. The correlation coefficient found between the percentage of sperm with stained tails and the percentage with straight tails was 0.81, 0.94 and 0.85 for bull, ram and boar spermatozoa, respectively. Results of this study show that sperm cells with an intact head membrane, but a stained and presumably membrane-damaged tail are not motile. Therefore these cells should be included in the dead category rather than alive in the usual live-dead studies with vital stains.

Zusammensetzung des Kolostrums bei einigen Fleischrinderrassen in Abhängigkeit von der nach dem Abkalben vergangenen Zeit

Abstract. Title of the paper: The composition of the Colostrum of some beef cattle breeds according to time of post partum. This research was carried out to investigate the changes of main components of Colostrum with 0–4 days after calving by five beef cattle breds, kept in Hungary. After calving and 24 hours later beef cattle breeds had higher dry matter content in Colostrum compared to that of dairy breeds; but the dairy breeds were superior to the beef cattle breeds from the second day. This relates to the Colostrum of the beef cattle breeds more concentrated than the dairy breeds during the first 24 hours but they reached that values eariier which were characteristic to the normal milk. Examining the protein content of Colostrum there were similar tendencies in change of dry matter content with difference that the protein content of Colostrum of beef cattle breeds was higher than that of the dairy breeds between the 2nd and 4th days, too. On the first and the second days the fat content of Colostrum of the sucklers decreased which was related to the higher dilution in beef cattle breeds. The sugar content of Colostrum of the beef cattle breeds has increased between the calving and the 4th day post partum, and reached the values characteristic to the normal milk – (4.8–5.0%) – on the 5th–6th day. There was not significant difference between the beef and the dairy breeds, neither in sugar nor in the ash content. The ash content of Colostrum reached the values characteristic to the normal milk, 7–8 days after calving. The whey protein and the non protein nitrogen content of Colostrum of the beef cattle breeds were higher than that ofthe dairy breeds, significantly. Decreasing of these fractions in the beef cattle breeds were more moderate than the dairy breeds as in case of the total protein content, according to time. Our calculations show that whey protein content of the beef cattle breeds reached that values which were characteristic to the normal milk, after the 5th day post partum. Not having found a decided difference in the casein content of Colostrum between the beef and the dairy breeds. The casein content of Colostrum of blonde d' Aquitaine and Limousin higher than that ofthe other kind of beef cattle breeds, which manifests itself in the ratio of whey protein and casein, too. At the same time the ratio of whey protein and casein in both Angus types differ from the other beef cattle breeds in favour of the whey protein. The calculated immunglobulüj-G values of Colostrum milked immediately after calving were usually much higher at sucklers than at the dairy breeds. This was true especially beUveen the 1st and the 4th days which was connected with the more moderate decrease of IgG fraction in the beef cattle breeds. Similarly the data of the literature the IgG content ofthe fresh milked Colostrum was determined primarily by the breed. According to our examinations this determination becomes more unimportant moving off the time of calving. The energy content of Colostrum at Black Angus and Red Angus rose among the other kind of beef cattle breeds. The average energy content ofthe Colostrum of blonde d' Aquitaine and Limousin was connected with the high protein content of their Colostrum. The energy content of Colostrum of Hungarian Simmental was the lowest.