Sperm Dna Damage and Embryonic Development as Related to Fertility Potential of Buffalo Bulls
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: Conventional semen analysis are not sufficient to evaluate bull’s fertility, however it might be used as a preliminary evaluation for predicting fertility potential. Sperm DNA integrity may give a better evaluation of bull fertility potential. In the current study, six mature buffalo bulls were divided into two groups (based on a threshold of 70% motility; as high or low potential fertility). The first objective of the current study was to evaluate DNA fragmentation (measured as Comet value) in the two groups of bulls (three bulls/group) in relation to its potential fertility. The results showed that low potential fertility bulls had significantly (P<0.05) more sperm DNA damage, higher (P<0.05) sperm abnormal morphology and lower (P<0.05) sperm viability than that of sperm from the high potential fertility bulls. Our second objective was to assess whether a relationship exists between bull’s sperm DNA damage and bull in vitro fertility. A significant variations (P<0.05) in the developmental competence of the embryos to the morula and blastocyst stages were observed. The results also showed a clear negative correlation between bull’s potential fertility and DNA integrity at and the ability of the fertilized ova to sustain its development to the morula (r=-0.756) and blastocyst stage (r=-0.643). These results indicate that measuring DNA integrity could be a powerful marker of bull’s fertility. Therefore, screening bulls for DNA damage should be emphasized along with routine semen analysis in selecting bulls either for natural mating or artificial insemination.
Institution: Agricultural Research Center
Language: English
Subfield: Reproductive Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3019873389