Rhesus macaque blastocysts resulting from intracytoplasmic sperm injection of vacuum-dried spermatozoa.
BACKGROUND
Sperm desiccation is an attractive approach for sperm preservation. In this study, we examined the feasibility and efficiency of intracytoplasmic sperm injection using vacuum-dried rhesus macaque sperm in CZB medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum.


METHODS
A total of 109 MII oocytes were injected with 69 fresh ejaculated sperm and 40 vacuum-dried sperm.


RESULTS
Cleavage occurred in 97% of oocytes injected with fresh, motile sperm and in 88% of oocytes injected with vacuum-dried sperm. Of the cleaved oocytes, 68% fresh sperm-injected oocytes and 74% of dried sperm-injected oocytes developed to the compact morula stage. Blastocyst development was comparable between fresh-injected (16%) and vacuum-dried-injected (17%) oocytes. Differences between treatment groups were not significant. Transmission electron microscopic observation of the blastocysts indicated no detectable differences between fresh sperm and dried sperm-derived embryos.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that vacuum-dried rhesus macaque sperm are capable of inducing fertilization and development of pre-implantation embryos when sperm were dried under vacuum and microinjected into normal viable oocytes.
Meyers
Stuart A
SA
Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. smeyers@ucdavis.edu
Li
Ming-Wen
MW
Enders
Allen C
AC
Overstreet
James W
JW
D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D003890:Desiccation; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D009865:Oocytes; D051381:Rats; D012662:Semen Preservation; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D013094:Spermatozoa; D014618:Vacuum