The use of artificial insemination (AI) in buffalo is limited by the poor ovarian activity during the hot season, the seasonal qualitative patterns in semen, the low resistance of sperm cells in the female tract, the difficulties in detecting and variable length of estrous. Although AI procedures are commonly used in bovine breeding, these techniques are limited in the buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). In zootechnical field, different studies were conducted to develop new techniques for the improvement of fertilizing ability of buffalo spermatozoa after AI. In this study, for the first time, the alginate encapsulation and cryopreservation of buffalo spermatozoa was described to improve AI efficiency, and the same procedure was performed for bovine semen. Overall results obtained from in vitro analyses indicate that the encapsulation process does not lead to detrimental effects (respect to the control) in the quality parameters (membrane integrity, progressive motility, path average velocity), also after the cryopreservation in either species. The fertilizing potential of encapsulated-cryopreserved semen was evaluated after AI in 25 buffalo and 113 bovine females: pregnancy rate is not jeopardized in either bovines or buffaloes. This work provide the efficiency proof of concept of frozen semen controlled release devices in the buffalo breeding.

Alginate encapsulation preserves the quality and fertilizing ability of Mediterranean Italian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and Holstein Friesian (Bos Taurus) spermatozoa after cryopreservation

PERTEGHELLA, SARA;CRIVELLI, BARBARA;VIGANI, BARBARA;CHLAPANIDAS, THEODORA;TORRE, MARIA LUISA
2017-01-01

Abstract

The use of artificial insemination (AI) in buffalo is limited by the poor ovarian activity during the hot season, the seasonal qualitative patterns in semen, the low resistance of sperm cells in the female tract, the difficulties in detecting and variable length of estrous. Although AI procedures are commonly used in bovine breeding, these techniques are limited in the buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). In zootechnical field, different studies were conducted to develop new techniques for the improvement of fertilizing ability of buffalo spermatozoa after AI. In this study, for the first time, the alginate encapsulation and cryopreservation of buffalo spermatozoa was described to improve AI efficiency, and the same procedure was performed for bovine semen. Overall results obtained from in vitro analyses indicate that the encapsulation process does not lead to detrimental effects (respect to the control) in the quality parameters (membrane integrity, progressive motility, path average velocity), also after the cryopreservation in either species. The fertilizing potential of encapsulated-cryopreserved semen was evaluated after AI in 25 buffalo and 113 bovine females: pregnancy rate is not jeopardized in either bovines or buffaloes. This work provide the efficiency proof of concept of frozen semen controlled release devices in the buffalo breeding.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11571/1162763
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