Intravaginal Artificial Insemination in Bitches Using Frozen/Thawed Semen after Dilution in Powdered Coconut Water (ACP‐106c)

Abstract

ContentsThe aim of this study was to evaluate powdered coconut water extender (ACP-106c; ACP Servic¸os Tecnolo´gicos Ltda, ACP Biotecnologia, Fortaleza, Ceara´, Brazil) as a diluent for freezing dog semen and the fertility after vaginal insemination of semen frozen therein. Ten ejaculates were collected from five dogs, evaluated fresh, diluted in ACP-106c, 10% egg yolk and 6% glycerol, cooled and frozen. In the first phase of the study, straws with frozen semen were thawed and immediately subjected to the same analysis as the fresh semen and, in addition, to Computer-Assisted Semen Analysis (CASA). In phase 2, 10 bitches that had been subjected to natural breeding during a preceding oestrous cycle were vaginally inseminated with thawed semen that had been re-diluted in ACP-106c. After thawing, a mean of 77% sperm motility was obtained through subjective analysis and 77.3% through CASA. Following artificial insemination, a 60% pregnancy rate was observed, resulting in a 50% parturition rate and a mean litter size of 3.4 (SEM 0.6), with 47.1% males and 52.9% females. ACP-106c can be successfully used for freezing canine semen, and vaginal deposition of such semen yields similar pregnancy rates to those reported in other studies.

Efficacious long-term cooling and freezing of Sapajus apella semen in ACP-118®

“…In the present study, glycerol was added after cooling with improved rates of sperm survival. There were similar results when glycerol was used for semen storage in dogs (Uchoa et al, 2012), collared peccary and old-world NHP (Li et al, 2005a(Li et al, ,b, 2006Si et al, 2010). Decreasing the exposure time to glycerol during cooling protects the sperm cells from osmotic shock, toxicity of glycerol and plasma membrane damage (Buhr et al, 2001).…”

Powdered coconut water as a storage medium to preserve the viability of periodontal ligament cells: a laboratory study

“…) and for sperm freezing (Uchoa et al . ). It has a long‐shelf life (2 years) and can be reconstituted easily in filtrated water, which makes it a viable candidate for use as a storage medium with wide distribution.…”

Ovarian and uterine periovulatory Doppler ultrasonography in bitches

“…Detailed knowledge about the reproductive physiology of normal dogs is important to support and enhance the success of canine reproduction biotechnology (Lévy & Fontbone 2007, Uchoa et al 2012). Knowledge about the uterine and ovarian ultrasonographic features as well their arterial blood flow patterns in cyclical bitches is important.…”

“…From this day, vaginal swabs were collected every days for vaginal smears. The percent keratinization of the vaginal epithelial cells was measured under light microscopy (x100-400; Opticus Co. Ltd., Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) (Uchoa et al 2012).…”

“…However, measuring LH requires taking at least two samples of blood plasma per day. Furthermore, there are no commercial kits available to measure LH and progesterone concentrations in many countries, which delays data results (Lévy & Fontbonne 2007, Uchoa et al 2012. Ovarian ultrasonography in B-mode is an alternative method that can measure the growth of the ovarian follicles from the antral to the preovulatory stage as well as detect the newly formed corpora lutea to estimate the likely day of ovulation (Domingues et al 2007).…”