Research note: the in vitro responses of vaginal tissue and chicken spermatozoa to glycerol.
The fertilizing ability of glycerolized spermatozoa is apparently lost due to reactions between glycerol, spermatozoa, and vaginal tissue. Two experiments were conducted to determine the feasibility of using in vitro cultures to quantitatively assess these reactions. In the first experiment, vaginal slices alone, unglycerolized semen, and vaginal slices plus semen, all in a phosphate-buffered saline were studied. The media were separated into 14 fractions using HPLC and the absorbance of each fraction was measured at 0 and 1 h of incubation. In a second experiment the changes in absorbance of these fractions were examined for unglycerolized and glycerolized semen in vaginal cultures. When unglycerolized semen was added to the vaginal cultures, Fraction 55 appeared in significantly greater absorbance than in vaginal tissue or semen alone. The opposite occurred for Fraction 57, which decreased in absorbance after 1 h of incubation in semen-vaginal culture. Fraction 57 was increased in absorbance in the presence of glycerol in the semen-vaginal culture. Glycerol appears to block the appearance of Fraction 55 in the normal semen-vaginal reaction. This reaction may be responsible for the deleterious effects of glycerol on spermatozoal survival in vivo.
Delee
J A
JA
Department of Animal Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 72701.
Harris
G C
GC
Macy
L B
LB
D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005260:Female; D005990:Glycerol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D012661:Semen / Q000187:drug effects; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D014621:Vagina / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000382:microbiology
D005990:Glycerol