title: Does multivariate analysis of post-thaw sperm characteristics accurately estimate in vitro fertility of boar individual ejaculates?
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine if a multivariate pattern analysis of frozen-thawed sperm characteristics of boar semen of unknown fertility, thus identifying groups of ejaculates as "good" or "bad" freezers, would estimate their fertilizing potential in an in vitro embryo production (IVP) system. Frozen-thawed spermatozoa from a single ejaculate collected from 46 boars were evaluated for sperm motility and kinematic patterns, for sperm viability and for early changes in sperm membrane stability. All data generated were used for a multivariate pattern analysis (PATN; CSIRO, Canberra, Australia) which objectively classified all ejaculates within a data set in to one of two groups, categorised as "good" (n = 25) or "bad" (n = 21) according with their freezability. In vitro matured oocytes were exposed to 2000 or 4000 frozen-thawed spermatozoa per oocyte for 6h and then cultured in embryo culture medium for either 6h (assurance of fertilization) or 7 days (to collect data on embryo development). Rates of sperm oocyte penetration and of embryo development significantly (p < 0.05) increased in a sperm:oocyte ratio-dependent manner. A similar pattern was observed when sperm characteristics were grouped. Indeed, ejaculates classified as "good" showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher rates of oocyte penetration, cleavage and of blastocyst formation than those classified as "bad". However, variation was still present among individuals (ejaculates, boars) in their ability to produce blastocysts in vitro. It is therefore concluded that despite the presence of a relationship for ejaculates with good semen quality post-thaw (thus grouped as "good") to higher IVP-results, the presence of individual variation does not allow for an accurate estimation of in vitro fertility based solely on the frozen-thawed semen quality parameters of a single ejaculate from a given boar.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Animal Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, 30071 Murcia, Spain. mariagil@um.es
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roca
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cremades
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Vázquez
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Martínez
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Martínez
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000662:veterinary*; D046149:Embryo Culture Techniques / Q000662:veterinary; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000662:veterinary*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008297:Male; D012662:Semen Preservation / Q000662:veterinary*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D013552:Swine