TRIALS TO IMPROVE THE VIABILITY OF RABBIT SEMEN AT VARIABLE CONDITIONS OF PRESERVATION USING DIFFERENT DILUENTS

Abstract

Ten sexually mature rabbit bucks of (NZW) were used in this study. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of some diluents and differents regimes of dilution and preservation on the viability of rabbit semen . Semen was collected by an artificial vagina and evaluated for volume (ml), individual motility (%); concentration of spermatozoa (ml × 106); percentage of alive spermatozoa and total abnormalities by conventional technique. Pooled semen sample was divided into three parts, the first part was extended in Tris – egg yolk (pH 6.9), the second part was extended in Tris-egg yolk (pH 7.5) and the third part was extended in sodium chloride (pH 7.0). Each part again was subdivided into three portions; the first portion was incubated at 37˚C. for 3 hr.; The second portion was kept at 5 oC. for 48 hr. and the third portion was frozen in French straws (0.25 ml.) and stored in liquid nitrogen ( -196˚C). Our results revealed that the percentage of alive spermatozoa displayed a significant increase (P<0.05) at 37 oC in sodium chloride extender than the other extenders, while there were no significant differences in individual sperm motility in the three extenders at 37 oC. .On the other hand the individual sperm motility signed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in Tris-egg yolk extender with pH 6.9 than the other extenders at 5˚C. The post thawing motility was significantly higher (P<0.05) in Tris-egg yolk extended semen with pH 6.9 than the other extended semen. The extended semen with sodium chloride reported a highly significant percentage in acrosomal defects than the other extended semen with different pH.