The interest to develop assisted reproductive technologies and cryobanking for farm animal genetic resource conservation has recently increased. However, cryopreservation for ex-situ management of genetic diversity sometimes is not routinely feasible, owing to the lack of facilities (AI centres, laboratories) and expertise near the local breed farming area. In these cases, epididymal sperm obta...

Fresh and post-thaw parameters (motility, morphology and viability) of stallion epididymal spermatozoa that have been and have not been exposed to seminal plasma were evaluated, and directly compared to fresh and post-thaw parameters of ejaculated spermatozoa. Six sperm categories of each stallion (n=4) were evaluated for motility, morphology and viability. These categories were fresh ejaculate...

During their epididymal maturation, stabilizing factors such as cholesterol sulfate are associated with the sperm plasma membrane. Cholesterol is sulfated in epididymal spermatozoa by the enzyme estrogen sulfotransferase. Because of its role in the efflux of sulfate conjugates formed intracellularly by sulfotransferases, the ATP-binding cassette membrane transporter G2 (ABCG2) might have a role...

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in sperm maturation during epididymal transit, we intended to isolate secretory molecules that are region-specifically expressed along the epididymis and secreted into the lumen of epididymal ducts. By using differential display screening and DNA sequence analyses, we isolated a rat bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) possessing a si...

Background: Epididymal sperm has been recovered with the aim of conserving potentially valuable genetics Materialss from post mortem males for subsequent usage in assisted reproduction technologies. Among the quality parameters of spermatozoa, motility and velocity patterns are sensitive for chemical and physical components of medium which they were diluted. Also close correlation between sperm...

conclusions sperm quality extracted by percutaneous pesa and tese procedures increases fertility outcomes compared to naturally ejaculated sperm in men with idiopathic co. more specifically, embryo quality, which is most relevant to fertility outcome, improved when surgically extracted sperm was used for icsi. results there was a significant difference in fertilization rate, embryo quality, imp...

Although testosterone is the principal sex steroid produced by the testis, estrogen is known to be produced by both Leydig and Sertoli cells during different developmental periods. Additionally, evidence is unfolding to suggest that germ cells might also participate in the synthesis of estrogen within the male reproductive tract. We have recently reported that the messenger ribonucleic acid (mR...

Hormonal male contraception requires an induction phase before azoospermia and contraceptive safety are achieved. The nature of spermatozoa that may be ejaculated during this induction phase was studied in a nonhuman primate. The GnRH antagonist Cetrorelix was administered daily to five cynomolgus monkeys to induce testicular regression, and the vehicle was given to five control animals. Within...

BACKGROUND As one of the chlorinated antifertility compounds, alpha-chlorohydrin (ACH) can inhibit glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) activity in epididymal sperm and affect sperm energy metabolism, maturation and fertilization, eventually leading to male infertility. Further studies demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of ACH on G3PDH is not only confined to epididymal sperm b...

A small portion of cytoplasm is generally retained as the cytoplasmic droplet (CD) on the flagellum of spermatozoa after spermiation in mice. CDs are believed to play a role in osmoadaptation by allowing water entrance or exit. However, many lines of evidence suggest that CDs may have roles beyond osmoregulation. To gain more insights, we purified CDs from murine epididymal spermatozoa and cond...