title: Encapsulation of sex sorted boar semen: sperm membrane status and oocyte penetration parameters.
abstract: Although sorted semen is experimentally used for artificial, intrauterine, and intratubal insemination and in vitro fertilization, its commercial application in swine species is still far from a reality. This is because of the low sort rate and the large number of sperm required for routine artificial insemination in the pig, compared with other production animals, and the greater susceptibility of porcine spermatozoa to stress induced by the different sex sorting steps and the postsorting handling protocols. The encapsulation technology could overcome this limitation in vivo, protecting and allowing the slow release of low-dose sorted semen. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of the encapsulation process on viability, acrosome integrity, and on the in vitro fertilizing potential of sorted boar semen. Our results indicate that the encapsulation technique does not damage boar sorted semen; in fact, during a 72-hour storage, no differences were observed between liquid-stored sorted semen and encapsulated sorted semen in terms of plasma membrane (39.98 ± 14.38% vs. 44.32 ± 11.72%, respectively) and acrosome integrity (74.32 ± 12.17% vs. 66.07 ± 10.83%, respectively). Encapsulated sorted spermatozoa presented a lower penetration potential than nonencapsulated ones (47.02% vs. 24.57%, respectively, P < 0.0001), and a significant reduction of polyspermic fertilization (60.76% vs. 36.43%, respectively, polyspermic ova/total ova; P < 0.0001). However, no difference (P > 0.05) was observed in terms of total efficiency of fertilization expressed as normospermic oocytes/total oocytes (18.45% vs. 15.43% for sorted diluted and sorted encapsulated semen, respectively). The encapsulation could be an alternative method of storing of pig sex sorted spermatozoa and is potentially a promising technique in order to optimize the use of low dose of sexed spermatozoa in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medical Science-DSMVET, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spinaci
authors.forename: Theodora
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chlapanidas
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bucci
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vallorani
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perteghella
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lucconi
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Communod
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vigo
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galeati
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faustini
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Torre
mesh_terms: D000177:Acrosome / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D012662:Semen Preservation / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D012743:Sex Preselection / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013552:Swine