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Relationship Between Motility and Mitochondrial Functional Status in Canine Spermatozoa
Author(s) -
Volpe S,
Leoci R,
Aiudi G,
Lacalandra GM
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
reproduction in domestic animals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.546
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1439-0531
pISSN - 0936-6768
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0531.2009.01457.x
Subject(s) - motility , sperm , sperm motility , andrology , biology , semen , anatomy , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine
Contents Inner mitochondrial membrane potential (IMM) is considered a sensitive indicator for the energetic status and motility of spermatozoa. The relationship between sperm motility parameters evaluated by Computer Assisted Sperm motility Analyzer and plasma membrane integrity and IMM assessed by triple staining (PI/SYBR‐14 and JC‐1) was evaluated in 10 dogs of unknown fertility. Sperm motility showed large variations ranging from 10% to 98%. Proportion of viable sperm cells and of spermatozoa with high IMM ranged from 74% to 99% and from 53% to 87%, respectively. The presence of a high IMM assessed by JC‐1 was more strongly correlated to sperm viability ( r = 1) than to sperm motility ( r = 0.778). Our results indicate that JC‐1 is suitable for detection of IMM changes in canine spermatozoa, but it should always be associated with an objective motility analysis to avoid incorrect evaluation of potential sperm fertility. Ejaculates with a low motility rate showed an unexpectedly high proportion of sperm with high IMM, suggesting that mitochondrial respiration could not be sufficient to support sperm motility, although it may be important for sperm survival in the female genital tract.