The effect of some amides on the motility of bull spermatozoa was investigated before and after pellet freezing of semen.
Each aliquot of collected semen was diluted ten times with egg yolk-citrate diluent containing one of amides (form-, lact-, acet-, propion-, malo-, butyl-, valer-), ethylene glycol, DMSO, or glycerol (control) at a final level of 0.31, 0.93, 1.55, 2.17 and 3.1 M after dilution.
Sperm motility was estimated with television-video record equipment connected with phase-contrast microscope.
When diluted semen was incubated at 20°C for 30 min., the best sperm motility was observed in lactamide diluent as well as in glycerol diluent (Fig. 1).
Other amides were inferior to these two diluents, but acetamide maintained rather good mo-tility which was followed by propionamide, formamide and malomide. Effect of malonamide over 1.55 M level on sperm motility was unable to investigate owing to its low solubility. In butylamide sperm motility dropped near to zero at 1.55 M level and in valeramide sperm died immediately after dilution even at 0.31 M level. When diluted semen was cooled to 5°C and frozen on a dry ice block in 0.1 m
l pellet form after equilibration for 36 hrs and thawed on a metal plate at 40°C, all amides, except butylamide and valeramide, showed some protective effect for sperm survi-val against freezing injury (Fig. 2).
Among them, the best protective effect was observed in lactamide diluent, then in acetamide and formamide diluent, when semen was thawed without thawing media. Propionamide and ma-lonamide gave low protective effect.
Striking and contrasted changes of post-thawed sperm motility were observed by redilution of thawed semen with thawing media (buffered milk-isotonic to raw semen)
6) in the samples diluted with formamide and lactamide diluents.
In the former, the motility was greatly improved at 0.93 M level, but in the latter the moti-lity was injured significantly by redilution.
These phenomena is inferred to be related with the permeability of the amides into the cells and also with the degree of injury of living sperm after freezing and thawing.
From these findings, formamide and lactamide will can be used as new cryoprotective agents for spermatozoa.
Fertility triale are undergoing with these amides in cattles, swine and rabbit.
Parts of the paper had been presented at the 13th annual meeting of The Japan Frozen Semen Research Society on Sept. 2 3, 1971 and at the antumn meeting of The Japanese Soc. Anim. Reprod. at Kyoto on Oct. 27, 1971.
View full abstract