Assessment of boar sperm samples by computer-assisted sperm anaylsis and the mobility assay
Abstract
The sperm mobility assay (Accudenz) used in the present study measures sperm penetration into a biologically inert gradient solution. When a sample of sperm is overlaid in a cuvette containing Accudenz, sperm penetrate the solution and then measured with a spectrophotometer. The mobility assay has been successfully used to select chicken and turkey sperm donors. We validated this assay for semen from boars. Absorbance was measured after overlaying stored semen (24h) from each boar in prefilled cuvettes for 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40 min. There were no significant differences between sperm concentrations 1 x 108 and 5 x 107 viable sperm/mL. Absorbance was half-maximal at 13.1 min. In addition, there was medium repeatability for individual boars. There were positive correlations between mobility values and several computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) measurements, and low to high reproducibility for several CASA measurements. We concluded that further study is needed to find the proper Km and, the mobility and CASA measurements are correlated.