Acrosome Status of Ram Spermatozoa after Storage in Epididymis at 4 oc

Abstract

The epididymis is an organ in which maturing spermatozoa are stored. The recovery of the epididymal spermatozoa from dead animals and their cryopreservation are useful tool to rescue genetic material that otherwise would be lost, either from highly productive animals or from endangered species [1, 2, 3]. We have previously described that motile and viable spermatozoa could be recovered from ram epididymides up to 48 h after cold storage at 4° C, but the motility and fertilizing ability of spermatozoa gradually decreased as the storage period was prolonged [4], indicating that the spermatozoa losses their fertilizing potential after storage for several days at 4° C. Assessment of sperm quality conventionally relies on microscopic evaluation to estimate sperm viability and the percentage of motile spermatozoa, and percentage of normal sperm morphology are not truthfully predict male fertility because lack of objectivity and human bias [5]. Thus, functional status of sperm sperm (acrosome, mitochondria, etc) analyses have been gain importance during last decades. Therefore, in this study, we evaluate the acrosomal integrity of spermatozoa after storage in epididymis at 4° C for several days. It is well known that acrosome membrane integrity is considered to be important as critical elements regarding fertilization.