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. 2020 Nov 25;10(12):2209.
doi: 10.3390/ani10122209.

Donkey Epididymal Transport for Semen Cooling and Freezing

Yamilka Lago-Alvarez  1 , Giorgia Podico  1 , Lorenzo G Segabinazzi  1 , Lais L Cunha  1 , Leonardo Barbosa  1 , Carolyn E Arnold  2 , Fabio S Lima  1 , Luise T King  3 , Amy K McLean  4 , Igor F Canisso  1
Affiliations

Donkey Epididymal Transport for Semen Cooling and Freezing

Yamilka Lago-Alvarez et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to assess the cooling and freezing of donkey epididymal semen harvested immediately after castration (Experiment 1, n = 4) or after the shipment (24 or 48 h) of epididymides attached to testicles (Experiment 2, n = 14) or dissected apart (Experiment 3, n = 36). In each experiment, semen was frozen immediately (Non-Centrif) in an egg yolk-based semen extender (EY) or after processing through cushion-centrifugation (Centrif) while extended in a skim milk-based extender (SC). In all three experiments, cooled, pre-freeze, and post-thaw epididymal semen was assessed for total motility (TM), progressive motility (PM), plasma membrane integrity (PMI), and high mitochondrial membrane potential (HMMP). Data were analyzed with R using mixed models and Tukey's test as posthoc. Results showed that the cooling of epididymal semen up to 24 h after harvesting did not affect motility parameters or plasma membrane integrity; furthermore, in Experiment 3, the post-thaw evaluation of both Centrif and Non-Centrif achieved similar TM and PM. Collectively, the post-thaw results revealed low motility parameters across groups; while, the PMI and HMMP did not reflect this trend, and the values remained high, suggesting that there was a lack of epididymal sperm activation with either centrifugation or extenders. In summary, freshly harvested and cooled-shipped and cooled semen had satisfactory semen parameters. Future studies need to address donkey epididymal semen fertility in mares and jennies.

Keywords: castration; cooled-shipped epididymides; epididymis; semen cryopreservation; testis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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