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

Reprod Domest Anim. 2002 Oct;37(5):285-90. doi: 10.1046/j.1439-0531.2002.00350.x.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acrosome / physiology*
  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Cell Separation / methods
  • Cell Separation / veterinary*
  • Centrifugation, Density Gradient / methods
  • Centrifugation, Density Gradient / veterinary
  • Cryopreservation / methods
  • Cryopreservation / veterinary
  • Insemination, Artificial / veterinary
  • Male
  • Povidone
  • Semen Preservation / methods
  • Semen Preservation / veterinary
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Sperm Count / veterinary
  • Sperm Motility / physiology*
  • Spermatozoa / physiology

Substances

  • Percoll
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Povidone