Four experiments were conducted to study the following: i) the influence of different concentrations of sucrose (0.15, 0.3 and 0.5 M with osmolality of 308, 500 and 760 mOsm/kg, respectively) in diluents and control diluent (370 mOsm/kg) on intensity of motility and progressive motility of goat sperm without rehydration and freezing step in four incubation periods (0, 0.5, 2 and 4 h after dilut...

Semen samples from 9 sexually mature dogs of different breeds, aged from 1 to 5 years were used. Quality of sperm was evaluated using the following parameters: progressive motility (subjective), then structural and functional integrity of spermal membrane (supravital colouring (eosine/nigrosine) and HOS test). The majority of HOS reactive or swollen spermatozoa was placed in a hypoosmolar solut...

Different protocols incorporating methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MBCD) and reduced glutathione (GSH) have been reported to improve IVF recovery of cryopreserved mouse sperm on a C57BL/6 (J and N) genetic background. However, it is not clear which IVF protocol is most appropriate when using the various methods to cryorecover sperm with different sperm quality and sample volumes. Therefore, in the presen...

The aim of the study was to determine the semen parameters of a proven fertile population and to compare these parameters with that of a subfertile group in the same region. Sixty-nine fertile male patients were studied and compared with 93 patients recruited at an infertility clinic. A sub-sample of patients was matched according to age. Sixty-one were studied in the fertile group and 62 in th...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to calculate the analytical goal for seminal parameters based on the state of the art, and then to compare these specifications with those previously obtained by our group based on biological variation. METHODS All data used for analysis were derived from the Spanish programme of external quality control on semen analysis. Over 90 laboratories participated...

This study aimed to improve the quality of cryopreserved goat semen for artificial insemination by the addition of cattle seminal plasma crude protein. Semen collected from cattle and centrifuged to obtain seminal plasma. Then it was purified to obtain the crude protein. The diluent used in this study was milk-yolk. There were three groups, control group without crude protein (P0), the addition...

The aim of study was to evaluate the effects of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on canine sperm function during cooled and freeze-thaw storage. Extenders supplemented with different IGF-I concentrations (0, 100 and 200 ng/ml) were added to canine spermatozoa, and the sperm samples were stored at 4°C for 48 hr or freeze-thawed. Sperm motility, morphology, plasma-membrane integrity (PMI) and...

It is universally recognized that cryopreservation impairs sperm quality. In order to improve postthawing sperm survival and motility, media of different composition and different protocols have been proposed. However, no clear evidence is available to understand which are the most efficient protocol and medium for sperm cryopreservation. The present study evaluates the efficiency of two differ...

Capacitation is characterized by a hyperactivated pattern of sperm motility. The acquisition of highly motility is present in the early stages of capacitation. Sperm progressive motility is one of the most important parameters for determining the suitability of semen for processing. However, previous studies have shown that some sperm showing good motility have membrane damage. The aim of our s...

BACKGROUND Although the effect of maternal age on fertility is well known, it is unclear whether paternal age also affects fertility. This cross-sectional study sought to characterize the association between age and semen quality, a well-known proxy of fertility status. METHODS A convenience sample of 97 non-smoking men (aged 22-80 years) without known fertility problems was recruited from a ...