PARENT SESSION

(W693) STORAGE OF CAMEL (Camelus dromedarius) EPIDIDYMAL SPERMATOZOA IN DIFFERENT EXTENDERS AND AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES.

Wani, Nisar¹, Nowshari, Manzoor¹, Wernery, Ulrich¹, ¹ Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT- Epididymal spermatozoa have been used for AI and other assisted reproductive procedures in laboratory and farm animals. No report is available on the feasibility of storing such spermatozoa in the dromedary. The present study was undertaken to evaluate 5 different extenders [tris-tes egg yolk (1), tris-lactose egg yolk (2), citrate egg yolk (3), sucrose egg yolk (4) and tris-fructose egg yolk (5)] for storing epididymal spermatozoa under different temperatures in dromedary camel. Spermatozoa were collected from cauda epididymides in each of the extenders as described earlier. Spermatozoa were stored at 4 and 23°C (room temperature). The semen was evaluated for motility, morphology, viability and acrosomal integrity at the time of collection and on Day 2, 4, 6 and 8 of storage. Extenders 1 and 2 maintained higher motility of the spermatozoa throughout the storage period (P < 0.05) compared to others. On Day 8 of storage in extender 1, 41.4 ± 8.9 and 36.6 ± 9.0% and in extender 2, 41.6 ±10.3 and 47.0 ± 4.9% spermatozoa were motile at 4 and 23°C, respectively, while no spermatozoa were motile in other extenders except 13.6 ± 9.1% at 23°C in extender 3. Initially 62.0 ± 7.9% spermatozoa were with cytoplasmic droplets, 34-67% of these droplets were gradually lost during storage up to Day 8. Throughout the storage period a higher proportion (P < 0.05) of spermatozoa were with curved/bent tails in extender 1 and 4 at 23°C and extender 5 at both the temperatures compared with other extenders. On Day 8 of storage 80.2 ± 2.9, 83.9 ± 3.4, 76.8 ± 4.7, 61.2 ± 5.1 and 72.2 ± 2.8% spermatozoa were having intact acrosomes at 4⁰C and 78.7 ± 3.4, 82.4 ± 3.2, 74.2 ± 5.2, 59.7 ± 5.5 and 60.8 ± 2.6% at 23°C in extenders 1 to 5, respectively. It may be concluded that epididymal spermatozoa of dromedary camel survive the storage up to 8 days in tris-tes egg yolk and tris-lactose egg yolk diluents and may be suitable for use in AI and other assisted reproductive procedures, however, this needs to be investigated.

KEY WORDS: camel, epididymal spermatozoa, storage, extenders