An investigation involving seven boars, active in artificial insemination, and 1,350 multiparous sows was conducted at a private farm and aimed at examining the relationship between sperm quality traits and boar fertility in terms of farrowing rate and litter size. This experiment was done for 6 months. The semen samples were evaluated for subjective sperm motility and concentration. Ejaculates...

Teratospermia (>60% of morphologically abnormal spermatozoa) is well documented in felids. Even morphologically normal spermatozoa from teratospermic ejaculates have reduced ability to undergo tyrosine phosphorylation, acrosome react, and bind and penetrate oocytes compared with normospermic (<40% abnormal spermatozoa) counterparts. However, it is unknown whether fertilization deficiencies orig...

The process of sperm chromatin decondensation occurs when a spermatozoon enters an ovum. Protamine disulphide bonds are reduced to SH and the polycationic protamines combine with the polyanionic egg protein, nucleoplasmin, thus being stripped from DNA which then combines with histones. Defective chromatin decondensation will thus prevent further development of the male pronucleus. In this study...

Background: Although the pathophysiology of the testicular damage associated with varicocele remains unclear, but varicocelectomy is considered a suitable technique for the treatment of individuals with clinical varicocele. The current study was designed to assessed semen parameters, chromatin packaging, and pregnancy outcome before and after varicocelectomy. Materials and Methods: Semen sample...

The tumour suppressor Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) is required for proper mitosis; however, the exact role of APC in mitosis is not understood. Using demembranated sperm chromatin exposed to meiotic Xenopus egg extract and HeLa cells expressing fluorescently labelled histones, we established that APC contributes to chromatin compaction. Sperm chromatin in APC-depleted Xenopus egg extract fr...

Sperm nuclear basic proteins of Bufo japonicus consist of 2 distinct protamines, whereas those of Xenopus laevis consist of 6 sperm-specific basic proteins (SP1-6) in addition to H3, H4 and smaller amounts of H2A and H2B. Cloning of pertinent cDNAs and partial amino acid sequence studies suggested that these 6 sperm-specific proteins of Xenopus are encoded by 3 distinct genes. Despite differenc...

Silane-coated silica particle solutions (ISolate(TM) and PureSperm)TM)) and iodixanol (OptiPrep(TM)) were compared to polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-coated silica particles (Percoll(TM)) in their efficacy to recover spermatozoa by gradient centrifugation for use in assisted reproductive procedures. Efficacy was assessed in terms of percentages of sperm recovery, sperm vitality and motility, normal ...

Background: Prolonged alcohol abuse in men can cause testosterone deficiency and shrinkage of the testicles (testicular atrophy). This can lead to impotence, sterility and ‘feminisation’. When alcohol is broken down in the body, it may also interfere with normal sperm structure and movement. This study was designed to determine the effects of administration of alcohol on sperm quality, sperm ma...

Background: Varicocele is commonly existed among infertile men and causes testis damage. Disorder of spermatogenesis was observed in varicocele individuals and leads to low quality sperm parameters and chromatin damage. Chromatin damage plays a critical role in pregnancy outcomes through in vitro or in vivo fertilization. Varicocelectomy considered as standard treatment of clinical varicocele. ...