Effects of Glycerol on Turkey Sperm Cell Viability and Fertilizing Capacity

Abstract

To test the cryoprotective action of glycerol, intravaginal (I.V.A.I.) and intramagnal (I.M.A.I.) artificial inseminations were performed on 100 turkey hens using semen treated with glycerol; treated with glycerol then diluted and centrifuged; treated with glycerol and frozenthawed: treated with glycerol, frozen-thawed then diluted and centrifuged; and untreated control.With I.V.A.I. no progeny were obtained from any turkeys within the treated group. I.V.A.I. subsequent to semen dilution and centrifugation to lower the glycerol level yielded only two poults from one of the 36 hens inseminated. When I.M.A.I. was used, many poults were hatched from eggs produced by hens in the four treated groups.To study the cause of glycerol’s antifertility action, histological sections of uterovaginal junction (UVJ) and infundibular (INF) tissues were observed. Following I.V.A.I., no sperm cells were found in either the UVJ or INF regions except in the controls where they were readily seen in the UVJ region. Conversely with I.M.A.I., sperm cells were seen in the INF region in all treatment groups while in the controls, sperm cells were also found in the UVJ region.