Time-related changes in functional activity and capacitation of chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) spermatozoa during in vitro incubation

• DOI: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2007.03.001
• Publication Date: 2007-03-08T22:01:32Z
• Authors: Marina F. Ponzio; Juan Manuel Busso; Ruben D. Ruiz; Marta Fiol de Cuneo
• Keywords: Male; 0301 basic medicine; Conservation of Natural Resources; Time Factors; Ionophores; Cell Survival; Acrosome Reaction; In Vitro Techniques; Spermatozoa; 03 medical and health sciences; Chinchilla; Sperm Motility; Animals; Sperm Capacitation; Calcimycin; Progesterone

The application of assisted breeding programs for chinchilla, an endangered species, requires detailed knowledge about their gamete physiology. Main purposes of the present study were to examine the time-related changes during 8h in vitro incubation in parameters that reflect chinchilla sperm functional activity (including sperm motility, viability, membrane and acrosome integrity), and to determine the incubation time required for achieving in vitro sperm capacitation, evaluated through the quantification of the percentages of sperm that underwent the acrosome reaction in response to progesterone (P, 20 microM) or another acrosome reaction inducer the calcium ionophore, A23187 (20 nM). Semen was obtained by electroejaculation, subjected to swim-up and incubated for 0, 2, 4 and 8h. After these periods, sperm functional activity was assessed. In all treatments percentages of motile, viable and viable sperm with intact acrosomes decreased (p<0.001) after 8h of incubation. The percentages of swollen gametes decreased (p<0.001) after 2h of incubation. Capacitation of chinchilla sperm could be achieved within 4h, as indirectly demonstrated by the increase of acrosome reacted cells in response to P or A23187 (time x treatment interaction: p=0.02).