Studies on the Storage of Chiekcn Semen Diluted with Different Hypertonic Solutions

Abstract

The effects of using different handling methods and hypertonic diluents for recovery of sperm motility were studied with chicken semen diluted 1 to 3 and stored. The following handling methods were employed just before insemination: (a) stored semen was centrifuged' supernatant discarded and resuspended to the original volume in an isotonic phosphate buffer (16.34g Na2HPO4 and 5.16g NaH2PO4•H2O per liter) containing fructose (4mg/ml), (b) stored semen was diluted further 1 to 5 with the isotonic buffer and reconcentrated as described in (a), and (c) 1 part distilled water was added to 2 parts stored semen followed by reconcentration as described in (a). The results obtained are as follows.1. When semen was stored at room temperature for 6 hours in phosphate buffers with concentrations 2 to 5 times that of isotonic concentration, recovery of sperm motility was greatest at 2 times isotonic concentrations after addition of four volumes of the isotonic buffer or addition of 0.67 volumes of distilled water to the stored semen, whereas the loss of motility was irreversible at a concentration 5 times isotonic.2. Fertility tests indicated that the recovery of sperm motility just before insemination was not necessary for semen stored 2 days at 2°C in a hypertonic SGF (93.47g sucrose, 23.77g glycine, 4g fructose, 2g dihydrostreptomycin per liter, and 4ml 0.3M KOH added to 1 liter the solution)-phosphate buffer (2 times isotonic concentrations) which the mixing rate of the SGF solution and the phosphate buffer is 1 to 1 (Δ=-1.24°C), however, fertility was improved when the stored semen was reconcentrated to the original volume after recovery of the sperm motility.Storage with the hypertonic solution resulted in no improvement really since fertility increased in Trial 1 but decreased in Trial 2 as compared to an isotonic phosphate buffer, when reconcentration was employed just before insemination.3. On the average, fertility was improved slightly with a hypertonic phosphate buffer as compared to a hypertonic SGF-phosphate buffer, but no apparent trend for fertility was found between the handling methods.