Use of Boar Spermatozoa for Artificial Insemination. I. Fertilizing Capacity of Fresh and Frozen Spermatozoa in Sows on 36 Farms

Abstract

A field trial was conducted on 36 farms in the Netherlands to compare the fertilizing capacity of fresh and frozen-thawed boar spermatozoa. Four-hundred and fifty-one sows were artificially inseminated with semen than that had been frozen and thawed according to the Beltsville Method or diluted in Kiev extender and inseminated on the day of collection. Twelve boars of the Dutch Landrace and Dutch Large White breeds were used. Farrowing rates, total number of pigs per litter and number of live pigs per litter were higher (P less than .0001) for sows inseminated with fresh semen than for sows inseminated with frozen-thawed semen (79.1%, 10.6 and 9.9 vs 47.0%, 7.4 and 7.1, respectively). Farrowing rates for sows inseminated with frozen-thawed semen were higher when semen from Dutch Large White boars was used than when semen from Dutch Landrace boars was used (58.6 vs 40.9%); the pattern reversed for insemination with fresh semen (76.5 vs 81%). Boar differences based on farrowing rate ranged from 62 to 92% for fresh semen and from 29 to 72% from frozen semen. There was no inseminator effect or farm effect on farrowing rate. On the basis of these results, frozen semen used for artificial insemination under practical circumstances can be expected to result in a farrowing rate about 30 percentage points lower and a litter size about three pigs smaller than does fresh semen.

Within and between breed differences in freezing tolerance and plasma membrane fatty acid composition of boar sperm

“…When frozen-thawed boar semen is used for AI, the farrowing rates are reduced by 10-25% and the litter sizes are reduced by 1 -3 piglets compared with AI with fresh semen (Johnson et al 1981, Almlid & Hofmo 1996. Breed-specific fertility data from field trials with Norwegian boars are limited; however, semen frozen during the 1990s seems to indicate a breed-specific response to cryopreservation.…”

Semen cryopreservation of Piau swine breed submited to three freezing protocols

“…Em estudos com suínos, alguns autores (Johnson et al, 1981;Almlid & Hofmo, 1996;Woelders et al, 1996) citam que diferenças raciais influenciam na congelabilidade do sêmen. Adicionalmente, Ohata et al (2001) observaram diferenças no sêmen de machos de mesma composição genética, após o descongelamento, de até 18% na porcentagem de acrossomas normais e de 10% na motilidade espermática, fato que indica efeito varrão na congelabilidade de sêmen suíno.…”

Epigenetic reprogramming of embryos derived from sperm frozen at −20°C

“…The preservation of mouse spermatozoa now plays an important role in basic research and fertility treatment. Male germ cells were the first cell type to be cryopreserved successfully and now spermatozoa preservation in liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ) is commonly used in many mammalian species [1][2][3] including humans [4]. However, mouse spermatozoa cryopreservation methods are unsatisfactory because of the sperms' extreme sensitivity to cold and osmotic effects compared with human spermatozoa [5].…”