Centrifugação com amortecimento durante a seleção espermática na produção in vitro de embriões bovinos

Abstract

In order to optimize bovine in vitro fertilization (IVF), sperm selection methods have been used to isolate sperm subpopulations with high fertilizing capacity for use in animal breeding. Among the methods of sperm selection, the most common method used is the Discontinuous Percoll® Gradients (DPG). However, again despite the practicality of this technique, the centrifugation step is harmful, accounting for structural damage in sperm and decrease in motility and sperm recovery rate, as well as interfering with in vitro fertilization rates. This study aimed to evaluate the cushioned centrifugation using an iodixanol solution on sperm selection for in vitro production (IVP) of bovine embryos. In experiment I, the thawed semen was divided into four groups and the sperm subjected to the separation method by discontinuous Percoll® gradients with and without a colloid solution, where the cushioning was tested in the first (C1), second (C2), and both centrifugations (C1-2). Then, the recovery rate, sperm kinetics, and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were evaluated. Experiment II evaluated the fertilization rate and embryonic development kinetics of C and C1 groups; who were the treatments that have shown the best results for motion kinetics, recovery rate, and biochemical analysis in Experiment I. In this assay, the group with cushioning obtained an increase in the fertilization and cleavage rate when compared with the control (60.5 vs 48.55 and 80.0 vs 64.7%, respectively). With this study, we can conclude that the use of a cushion solution during centrifugation on sperm selection had preserved the motion properties of spermatozoa and the 11 integrity of the sperm membrane without lowering the recovery rate. Furthermore, it was demonstrated for the first time that the use of cushioned centrifugation increases not only the cleavage rate but the number of embryos previously cleaved.