Potential use of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in artificial insemination of rabbits

Abstract

The aim of this work was to analyse the effect of incubation dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with insemination dose (ID) on reproduction parameters (kindling rate, number of live and still-born kits and birth weight of kits). The experiments were carried out under the conditions of two rabbit breeds. An ejaculate was diluted to concentration of 40 to 50 million/0.5 ml/ID. DMSO was added to the ID in concentration of 0.5 M DMSO. Control ID did not contain any DMSO. Kindling rates obtained from 2 different breeds (P1, P2) showed minor improvement (+4.36% P1; +4.06% P2) between the monitored groups of females, however without statistically significant differences. Number of live born kits in litter obtained from breeds P1 and P2 showed minor improvement (+0.61 pcs P1; +0.13 pcs P2) compared to the control groups (p>0.05). The weight of live born kits was higher in experimental groups (+3.85 g P1 = p≤0.001; +1.18 g P2 = p>0.05) compared to the control groups. Monitoring of sperm quality indicators (1, 3 and 6 hours incubation) in vitro conditions (CASA – Computer Assisted Semen Analyzer) showed the best results in the control group of non-affected DMSO. The data obtained from our experiments suggest the possitive effects of DMSO incubation on reproduction parameters especially in vivo.