Abstract
The anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), a Sertoli cell-secreted glycoprotein that is present in seminal plasma (SP), is considered as a marker of spermatogenesis in humans. This study aimed to evaluate the presence of this hormone in boar SP, together with its putative relationship with sperm quality, function, and in vivo fertility parameters in liquid-stored semen samples. The concentration of SP-AMH was assessed in 126 ejaculates from artificial insemination (AI)-boars (n = 92) while using a commercial Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) kit with monoclonal antibodies specific for Sus scrofa AMH (CEA228Po, Cloud-clone). Sperm quality (concentration, motility, viability, and acrosome damage) and functionality (membrane lipid disorder and intracellular H2O2 generation) were assessed in semen samples at 0 and 72 h of liquid-storage. In addition, fertility parameters from 3113 sows inseminated with the AI-boars were recorded in terms of farrowing rate, litter size, number of stillbirths per litter, and the duration of pregnancy over a 12-month period. The results revealed that the SP-AMH concentration varied widely among boar ejaculates, with no differences among breeds. Moreover, the SP-AMH concentration proved to be a good predictive biomarker for sperm concentration (p ˂ 0.05), but poor for other sperm quality, functionality, and in vivo fertility parameters of liquid-stored semen samples from AI-boars.
Highlights
Artificial insemination (AI) with liquid-stored semen is the most widely used reproductive biotechnology in the swine industry, playing a crucial role in genetic progress and increasing animal productivity [1]
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between seminal plasma (SP)-anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentration and sperm quality, function, and in vivo fertility of boars that were included in artificial insemination (AI)-programs
All of the ejaculates used in the present study satisfied the sperm quality requirements for the preparation of liquid semen AI-doses (>70% motile spermatozoa and >75% of morphologically normal spermatozoa)
Summary
Artificial insemination (AI) with liquid-stored semen is the most widely used reproductive biotechnology in the swine industry, playing a crucial role in genetic progress and increasing animal productivity [1]. Boars that have apparently good quality semen (based on these traditional tests) differ in the ability of their sperm to withstand liquid-storage, as well as in their field fertility [4,5,6]. It has been estimated that the proportion of sub-fertile boars in AI-centers ranges from 5 to 7% [1]. The inclusion of these boars in AI-programs, whose semen pass conventional quality checks but fails to achieve a high rate of pregnancies, leads to important economic losses at the farm level, as well as at the AI centers. Many efforts have been made in the last years to identify biomarkers of sperm
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