Problem statement: Boar sperm cells are sensitive to the freezing process, which compromises viability of frozen-thawed sperm. In a constant search for minimizing or suppressing sperm cell damage caused by the temperature and osmolarity changes during the freezing process, crioprotective and antioxidant substances have been added to the freezing media, such as coconut water, in order to increas...

The objective of this study was to investigate individual fixed effects in an animal model for breeding value estimation for semen traits of pig sire breeds. Data (151,755 ejaculates collected from 2000 through 2007 from 2,077 Duroc, sire line of Large White, Piétrain, and single cross boars between these breeds) were from 20 AI centers in the Czech Republic. Traits considered per ejaculate wer...

Endogenous and exogenous opioids modulate reproductive functions in target cells via opioid receptors (μ, δ, and κ). Sperm motility is a metric of gamete functionality, and serves as a suitable parameter for in vitro drug-induced toxicity assays. This study identifies the presence and location of opioid receptors in pig spermatozoa as well as their functional response after in vitro challenge w...

Replacement of animal testing by in vitro methods (3-R principles) requires validation of suitable cell models, preferably obtained non-invasively, defying traditional use of explants. Ejaculated spermatozoa are highly dependent on mitochondrial production and consumption of ATP for their metabolism, including motility display, thus becoming a suitable model for capturing multiple modes of acti...

This study was aimed to analyze the metabolic activity and membrane integrity of boar spermatozoa following storage in long-term semen extenders. Boar semen was diluted with Androhep EnduraGuard (AeG), DILU-Cell (DC), SafeCell Plus (SCP) and Vitasem LD (VLD) extenders and stored for 10 days at 17C. Parameters of the analyzed sperm metabolic activity included total motility (TMOT), progressive m...

Cytochrome P450 aromatase is the key enzyme in estrogen biosynthesis, encoded by CYP19 gene. Impairment of spermatogenesis associated with a decrease in sperm motility and inability to fertilize oocytes in mice due to the lacking of CYP19 was observed. However, it is little known about the CYP19 roles in boar spermatogenesis and fertility. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate ...

Flow cytometry was utilised to determine whether short-term (Day 1) or long-term hypothermic liquid storage (Day 5), or cryopreservation of boar spermatozoa (1) caused changes in plasma membrane phospholipid disorder (MPLD) and acrosome exocytosis (AE), indicative of an advanced stage of capacitation or acrosome status, and (2) facilitated or inhibited the induction of capacitation and the acro...