The Effects of Hoechst 33342 Staining and the Male Sample Donor on the Sorting Efficiency of Canine Spermatozoa

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of Hoechst 33342 (H-42) concentration and of the male donor on the efficiency of sex-sorting procedure in canine spermatozoa. Semen samples from six dogs (three ejaculates/dog) were diluted to 100×10(6) sperm/ml, split into four aliquots, stained with increasing H-42 concentrations (5, 7.5, 10 and 12.5μl, respectively) and sorted by flow cytometry. The rates of non-viable (FDA+), oriented (OS) and selected spermatozoa (SS), as well as the average sorting rates (SR, sorted spermatozoa/s), were used to determine the sorting efficiency. The effects of the sorting procedure on the quality of sorted spermatozoa were evaluated in terms of total motility (TM), percentage of viable spermatozoa (spermatozoa with membrane and acrosomal integrity) and percentage of spermatozoa with reacted/damaged acrosomes. X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm populations were identified in all of the samples stained with 7.5, 10 and 12.5μl of H-42, while these two populations were only identified in 77.5% of samples stained with 5μl. The values of OS, SS and SR were influenced by the male donor (p<0.01) but not by the H-42 concentration used. The quality of sorted sperm samples immediately after sorting was similar to that of fresh samples, while centrifugation resulted in significant reduction (p<0.05) in TM and in the percentage of viable spermatozoa and a significant increase (p<0.01) in the percentage of spermatozoa with damage/reacted acrosomes. In conclusion, the sex-sorting of canine spermatozoa by flow cytometry can be performed successfully using H-42 concentrations between 7.5 and 12.5μl. The efficiency of the sorting procedure varies based on the dog from which the sperm sample derives.