title: Fluorescent staining as a method of assessing membrane damage and post-thaw survival of ram spermatozoa.
abstract: We studied the relationship between motility and membrane damage, as assessed by fluorescent staining, in fresh and in frozen-thawed ram spermatozoa. Semen from Merino rams was incubated with 6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate and propidium iodide. In both fresh and frozen-thawed samples, the percentage of intact spermatozoa was lower than the motility rate, thus indicating the presence of damaged but motile spermatozoa. Freezing and thawing resulted in a marked loss of membrane integrity, whereas motility decreased to a lesser extent. There was a positive relationship (r=0.64; P<0.001) between membrane integrity immediately after thawing and motility after 8 h of incubation at 37 degrees C. These results demonstrate the usefulness of the fluorescent staining method for the prediction of ram sperm quality and post-thaw survival.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Reproductivas Pérez Companc Florida 234, 1334 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valcárcel
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Las Heras
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Moses
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baldassarre