A spectrophotometric procedure for the determination of objective measurements of equine spermatozoan motility.
A spectrophotometric procedure was developed and evaluated for the objective measurement of equine spermatozoan motility. A 100 mul sample of a sperm suspension, prepared by the removal of seminal plasma, was layered under a column of optically clear medium in a specially designed spectrophotometric cuvette maintained at 37 degrees C. Changes in light transmittance above the interface of the sperm suspension and medium were recorded on chart paper. As sperm cells swam into the medium, a decrease in light transmittance was recorded as a deflection on the chart paper. Chart recordings were analyzed for the height (cm) and time (min) to the peak deflection. To standardize the procedure, a fixed number of cells (1x10(9)) were used to prepare suspensions of 300x10(6) cells/ml. Coefficients of variation for mean values obtained under these conditions after the evaluation of five ejaculates from a given stallion were estimated at between 10 and 12%. Correlations between swim-up measurements and computer-assisted semen analysis demonstrated that the percentage of motile cells and mean velocity (mum/sec) of motile cells influenced swim-up measurements. Described here is a simple and inexpensive procedure to determine objective measurements of spermatozoan motility that may have application in semen evaluation and fertility testing in the stallion.
Jasko
D J
DJ
New York State College of Veterinary Medicine Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA.
Smith
K
K
Little
T V
TV
Lein
D
D
Foote
R H
RH