Impact of boars’ sperm concentration of ejaculate and rest days between ejaculates on sows’ pregnancy rate

Abstract

artificial insemination is important, both for its efficiency in pregnancy rate and for the number of piglets born by litter. Objective: To determine the impact of sperm concentration of ejaculate and rest days between ejaculates on rate of pregnancy and number of piglets born by litter using cooled pig semen. Methods: The study involved the use of 29 ejaculates from 19 boars, which were 229–757 day old, with 5 to 16 rest days between ejaculations, for inseminating 315 sows. The effect of motility, ejaculate volume, ejaculate sperm concentration and diluted sperm concentration, morphology, acrosomal integrity, cell membrane functionality, boar age, rest days between ejaculations, days of semen storage, farrowing, and wean-to-estrus interval were assessed on pregnancy rate and number of piglets born. Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS. Results: None of the variables provided a satisfactory explanation for the variation in pregnancy rate and number of piglets born using linear regression. The probability of achieving a pregnancy rate ≥93% was 10.4 times higher when the ejaculates came from boars with ≥12.5 rest days, 9.7 times higher when these ejaculates had a sperm concentration ≥941 million sperm per mL, and 2.7 times higher when the females inseminated were in heat between 4 and 7 days after wean. Conclusion: The ejaculate of boars with more rest days and high sperm concentration had a greater probability of improving the pregnancy rate. The number of piglets remained unaffected.

Keywords:

cerdos

fertilidad

semen

pig

ertility

semen

References

ACP, Asociación Colombiana de porcicultores. Análisis de la industria porcícola en Colombia. Porcicultura Colombiana, 208° ed. v.4, V. 12, p. 36, 2016.

Audet, I.; Bérubé, N.; Bailey, J.L. et al. Effects of dietary vitamin supplementation and semen collection frequency on hormonal profile during ejaculation in the boar. Theriogenology, V. 71, 334-341, 2009.

Barranco, I.; Tvarijonaviciute, A.; Perez-Patiño, C. et al. High total antioxidant capacity of the porcine seminal plasma (SP-TAC) relates to sperm survival and fertility. Scientific Reports, V. 5, 18538, p. 9, 2015. Available at:https://www.nature.com/articles/srep18538. Accession date: 01/19/2017.

Braundmeier, A.G.; Miller, D.J. The search is on: finding accurate molecular markers of male fertility. Journal of Dairy Science, V. 84, p. 1915-1925, 2001.

Caballero, I.; Vazquez, J.M.; García, E.M. et al. Major proteins of boar seminal plasma as a tool for biotechnological preservation of spermatozoa. Theriogenology, V. 70, p. 1352-1355, 2008.

Dacheux, J.L.; Castella, S.; Gatti, J.L.; Dacheux, F. Epididymal cell secretory activities and the role of proteins in boar sperm maturation. Theriogenology, V. 63, p. 319-341, 2005.

Dacheux, J.L.; Dacheux, F.; Druart, X. Epididymal protein markers and fertility. Animal Reproduction Science, V. 169, p. 76-87, 2016.

Díaz, O.; Valencia-Mejía, J.G.; Gómez-Londoño, G. et al. Evaluación de la integridad acrosomal y la funcionalidad bioquímica de la membrana plasmática en cerdos reproductores con gotas citoplásmicas persistentes. Revista Científica, FCV-LUZ, V. 19, p. 500-505, 2009.

Dyck, M.K.; Foxcroft, G.R.; Novak, S. et al. Biological markers of boar fertility. Reproduction in Domestics Animals, V. 46 Supplement 2, p. 55-58, 2011. Foxcroft, G.R.; Dyck, M.K.; Ruiz-Sanchez, A. et al. Identifying useable semen. Theriogenology, V. 70, p. 1324-1336, 2008.

França, L.R.; Avelar, G.F.; Almeida, F.F.L. Spermatogenesis and sperm transit through the epididymis in mammals with emphasis on pigs. Theriogenology, V. 63, p. 300-318, 2005.

França, L.R.; Cardoso, F.M. Duration of spermatogenesis and sperm transit time through the epididymis in the Piau boar. Tissue and Cell, V. 30, p. 573-582, 1998.

Frangež, R.; Gider, T.; Kosec, M. Frequency of boar ejaculate collection and its influence on semen quality, pregnancy rate and litter size. Veterinaria Brno, V. 74, p. 265-273, 2005.

Gadea, J.; Sellés, E.; Marco, M.A. The predictive value of porcine seminal parameters on fertility outcome under commercial conditions. Reproduction in Domestic Animals = Zuchthygiene, V. 39, p. 303-308, 2004.

Geisert, R.D.; Lucy, M.C.; Whyte, J.J. et al. Cytokines from the pig conceptus: roles in conceptus development in pigs. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, V. 5, p. 51, p.l-12, 2014.

Górski, K.; Kondracki, S.; Wysokínska, A. Ejaculate traits and sperm morphology depending on ejaculate volume in Duroc boars. Journal of Veterinary Research, V. 61, p. 121- 125, 2017.

Knox, R.V.; Rodriguez Zas, S.L. Factors influencing estrus and ovulation in weaned sows as determined by transrectal ultrasound. Journal of Animal Science, V. 79, p. 2957- 2963, 2001.

Lee, W.Y.; Lee, R.; Kim, H.C. et al. Pig Spermatozoa Defect in Acrosome Formation Caused Poor Motion Parameters and Fertilization Failure through Artificial Insemination and In vitro Fertilization. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, V. 27, p. 1417-1425, 2014.

López Rodríguez, A.; Rijsselaere, T.; Beek, J. et al. Boar seminal plasma components and their relation with semen quality. Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine, V. 59, p. 5-12, 2013.

Peña, F.J.; Saravia, F.; Núñez-Martínez, I. et al. Do different portions of the boar ejaculate vary in their ability to sustain cryopreservation? Animal Reproduction Science, V. 93, p. 101-113, 2006.

Pérez-Llano, B.; Lorenzo, J.L.; Yenes, P. et al. A short hypoosmotic swelling test for the prediction of boar sperm fertility. Theriogenology, V. 56, p. 387-398, 2001. Pruneda, A.; Pinart, E.; Dolors Briz, M.D. et al. Effects of a high semen-collection frequency on the quality of sperm from ejaculates and from six epididymal regions in boars. Theriogenology, V. 63, p. 2219-2232, 2005.

Rodríguez-Martínez, H.; Kvist, U.; Ernerudh, J. et al. Seminal plasma proteins: what role do they play? American Journal of Reproductive Immunology, V. 66, No. l Supplement 1, p. 11-22, 2011.

Rozeboom, K.J.; Troedsson, M.H.T.; Shurson, G.C. et al. Late estrus or metestrus insemination after estrual inseminations decreases farrowing rate and litter size in swine. Journal of Animal Science, V. 75, p. 2323-2327, 1997.

Ruiz-Sánchez, A.L.; O’Donoghue, R.; Novak, S. et al. The predictive value of routine semen evaluation and IVF technology for determining relative boar fertility. Theriogenology, V. 66, p. 736-748, 2006.

Saacke, R.G. Sperm morphology: its relevance to compensable and uncompensable traits in semen. Theriogenology, V. 70, p. 473-478, 2008.

Sandu, M.; Mantea, S.; Ipate, I. et al. Study upon the moment of ovulation in sows to establish the optimum moment for semen inoculation. Animal Science and Biotechnologies, V. 45, p. 346-348, 2012.

Schulze, M.; Jakop, U.; Jung, M.; Cabezón, F. Influences on thermo-resistance of boar spermatozoa. Theriogenology, V. 127, p. 15-20, 2019.

Smital, J.; Wolf, J.; De Sousa, L.L. Estimation of genetic parameters of semen characteristics and reproductive traits in AI boars. Animal Reproduction Science, V. 86, p. 119-130, 2005.

Souza, A.P.Bd; Schorr-Lenz, Â.M.; Lucca, F.; Bustamante, I.C. The epididymis and its role on sperm quality and male fertility. Animal Reproduction, V. 14, 1234-1244, 2017.

Tardif, S.; Laforest, J.P.; Cormier, N.; Bailey, J.L. The importance of porcine sperm parameters on fertility in vivo. Theriogenology, V. 52, p. 447-459, 1999.

Vilagran, I.; Yeste, M.; Sancho, S. et al. Comparative analysis of boar seminal plasma proteome from different freezability ejaculates and identification of Fibronectin 1 as sperm freezability marker. Andrology, V. 3, p. 345-356, 2015.

Watson, P.F.; Behan, J.R. Intrauterine insemination of sows with reduced sperm numbers: results of a commercially based field trial. Theriogenology, V. 57, p. 1683-1693, 2002.

Wolf, J.; Smital, J. Quantification of factors affecting semen traits in artificial insemination boars from animal model analyses. Journal of Animal Science, V. 87, p. 1620-1627, 2009.