Success in Artificial Insemination - Quality of Semen and Diagnostics Employed

204 Pages·2013·13.23 MB·English

by  Alemayehu Lemma

SUCCESS IN ARTIFICIAL
INSEMINATION
QUALITY OF SEMEN AND
DIAGNOSTICS EMPLOYED
Edited by Alemayehu Lemma
SUCCESS IN ARTIFICIAL
INSEMINATION -
QUALITY OF SEMEN AND
DIAGNOSTICS EMPLOYED
Edited by Alemayehu Lemma
Success in Artificial Insemination - Quality of Semen and Diagnostics Employed
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/45731
Edited by Alemayehu Lemma
Contributors
Zahid Paksoy, Hüseyin Daş, Rita Payan Carreira, Paulo Borges, Fernando Mir, Alain Fontbonne, Alemayehu Lemma,
Monteiro, Gustavo Guerino Macedo, Pietro Sampaio Baruselli, Joan E. Rodríguez-Gil, Daniel Tainturier, Mongkol
Techakumphu, Nutthee Am-In, Wichai Tantasuparuk, Kakanang Buranaamnuay, Abelardo Silva Júnior, Carlos Eduardo
Real Pereira, Eduardo Paulino da Costa, Emílio César Martins Pereira, Bakst, Jessica Dymond
Published by InTech
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Copyright © 2012 InTech
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First published December, 2012
Printed in Croatia
A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com
Additional hard copies can be obtained from [email protected]
Success in Artificial Insemination - Quality of Semen and Diagnostics Employed , Edited by Alemayehu
Lemma
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-51-0920-4

Contents
Preface VII
Chapter 1 The Importance of Semen Quality in AI Programs and Advances
in Laboratory Analyses for Semen Characteristics
Assessment 1
Leticia Zoccolaro Oliveira, Fabio Morato Monteiro, Rubens Paes de
Arruda and Eneiva Carla Carvalho Celeghini
Chapter 2 Improvement of Semen Quality by Feed Supplement and
Semen Cryopreservation in Swine 17
Mongkol Techakumphu, Kakanang Buranaamnuay, Wichai
Tantasuparuk and Nutthee Am-In
Chapter 3 The Use Of Sex-Sorted Sperm For Reproductive Programs
In cattle 39
Gustavo Guerino Macedo, Manoel Francisco de Sá Filho, Rodrigo
Vasconcelos Sala, Márcio Ferreira Mendanha and Pietro Sampaio
Baruselli
Chapter 4 Fertility Results After Artificial Insemination with Bull Semen
Frozen with Low Density Lipoprotein Extender 63
L. Briand-Amirat, D. Bencharif, S. Pineau and D. Tainturier
Chapter 5 Nonsteroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs to Improve
Fertility in Cows 73
Zahid Paksoy and Hüseyin Daş
Chapter 6 Molecular Markers in Sperm Analysis 93
Rita Payan-Carreira, Paulo Borges, Fernando Mir and Alain
Fontbonne
VI Contents
Chapter 7 The Potential for Infectious Disease Contamination During the
Artificial Insemination Procedure in Swine 117
Emílio César Martins Pereira, Abelardo Silva Júnior, Eduardo Paulino
da Costa and Carlos Eduardo Real Pereira
Chapter 8 The Role of Trans-Rectal Ultrasonography in Artificial
Insemination Program 141
Alemayehu Lemma
Chapter 9 Energy Management of Mature Mammalian
Spermatozoa 153
Joan E. Rodríguez-Gil
Chapter 10 Artificial Insemination in Poultry 175
M.R. Bakst and J.S. Dymond
Preface
The extensive application of AI in domestic animals is demanding an efficient technique
with high rate of success. Methods of improving the success of AI are subsequently
emanating from continuous research in the areas of procuring the best quality semen that
also require employing a rigours semen evaluation system. This book was prepared with an
intention of creating a useful addition to an already available literature on different aspects
of AI.
People involved in AI industry require up-to-date and relevant information in a more lucid
and easily accessible way. Today, client education is increasingly becoming important and
hence the mechanism to communicate pertinent research findings should only be through
greater access to scholarly information. However, some of the most useful research findings
published in scientific forums other than the common journals is still not accessible to all
readers around the world. This is what makes InTech, as a pioneer open access publisher, an
invaluable medium in meeting such needs.
Improvement in livestock resources can be achieved through the implementation of an
efficient and reliable AI service, concomitantly with proper feeding, health care and
management of livestock. Considering the economic investment in semen and other inputs,
success must be judged on the basis of pregnancy rate to the first AI. Pregnancies resulting
from AI largly originate from fertility level of the herd and semen quality. Collectively,
errors in efficiency of AI result in high semen cost, poor conception rate, reduced cow
production and net returns. An understanding of the impact of factors on the probability of
success of AI is of primary importance to establish corrective measures. Despite the wide
application and success of AI throughout the developed world, the success rate in many
developing countries is still low.
The main objective of this book is to provide readers with scientific information on the role
of high quality of semen in improving fertility and hence the success of AI. The book is
divided in to ten chapters each addressing different aspects of AI in domestic animals. The
first four chapters primarily focus on the importance of high semen quality in the success of
AI and methods employed to improve semen quality. Research findings regarding the use
of feed supplements in breeding animals, use of sex-sorted semen and modification of
semen extenders in an attempt to improve semen quality have been dealt in detail. Chapters
five and six address the female aspects including facts about the use anti-inflammatory
drugs in the females, and the role of early pregnancy diagnosis in advancing the success rate
of AI. Chapters seven through nine deals with aspects of advanced semen evaluation.
Additional topic on AI in poultry has also been included. Totally over twenty-five authors
and co-authors from different parts of the world have contributed to this work. Professional
VIII Preface
expertise from different continents, level of practices and interests have come together to
produce a practicable compiled knowledge. This makes the book a valuable scholarly
material for veterinarians working in AI industry, veterinary students, researchers and
livestock practitioners.
Dr. Alemayehu Lemma
Department of Clinical Studies
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Addis Ababa University
Ethiopia
Chapter 1
The Importance of Semen Quality in AI Programs and
Advances in Laboratory Analyses for Semen
Characteristics Assessment
Leticia Zoccolaro Oliveira, Fabio Morato Monteiro,
Rubens Paes de Arruda and
Eneiva Carla Carvalho Celeghini
Additional information is available at the end of the chapter
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/52022
1. Introduction
In the last decades, livestock sector has undergone a process of biotechnology incorporation
with the main goal of enhancing productivity and improving the genetic makeup. In this sense,
artificial insemination (AI) is considered as the most important biotechnology incorporated
into livestock production systems because it implies the use and/or globalization of proven
bulls, which represent a key tool in obtaining animals with higher genetic merit [1].
The wide use of bovine AI was mainly attributed to the development of methods that ensured
cell viability after storage for long periods by reducing sperm metabolism, due to important
progresses in studies involving cryoprotectants [2].
Nowadays, AI is considered as the most worldwide used reproductive biotechnology [3] with
an extremely interesting benefit-cost relationship. Despite the unquestionable role of this
biotechnology in improving productivity, many causes have accounted for the range in results
and/or some unsatisfactory indices of bovine AI programs, highlighting several factors
inherent to female physiology and/or farm management [4-9]. Nevertheless, another factor
positively correlated with the AI outcomes that require appropriate attention, correspond to
quality of semen samples used in the programs [10]. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to
review the importance of the quality of semen used in reproductive programs as well as the
use of laboratory tests for predicting bull fertility.
2 Success in Artificial Insemination - Quality of Semen and Diagnostics Employed
2. The importance of semen quality for AI programs
Regarding the quality of semen used in AI programs, it has been reported that differences in
fertility level could be attributed to variations in sperm qualitative characteristics [11].The
success of bovine AI programs largely depends on the use of good quality semen. When only
high fertility bulls are used, better conception rates are achieved, which reduces costs of
reproductive programs [12].
Individual bulls may differ in their ability to fertilize oocytes and/or to develop to blastocyst
stages after in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures [12-18]. In addition, different sires and/or
batches may differ in the individual response to induction of in vitro sperm capacitation
methods, [14] and in the response to acrosomal mantainence after in vitro incubation [19].
Moreover, the bull influence is an important factor affecting in vivo reproductive outcomes
[8,11, 20,21]. Ward et al. [20] demonstrated that kinetics of embryo development post insemi‐
nation may vary between bulls. Andersson et al. [21] observed a high variability in fertility
among bulls using different sperm concentrations per dose at AI. Sá Filho et al. [8] reported a
high variation in conception rates depending on the bull utilized in a Timed-AI program.
Moreover, Oliveira et al. [10] observed that the sire with numerically lower field fertility also
presented inferior semen quality based on the several in vitro sperm characteristics assessed.
Furthermore, semen handling (and/or semen thawing protocol) might also be an important
factor influencing in semen quality and, therefore, in AI results. Hence, it is deemed necessary
to alert to the practice of simultaneous thawing of multiple semen straws at the moment of AI.
For instance, the Brazilian Association of Artificial Insemination recommends, for bovine AI,
the thawing procedure of a single frozen semen straw (0.5 mL) in water bath unit at a tem‐
perature of 35 to 37°C for 30 seconds [22]. However, the large size of breeding herds using
Timed-AI protocols in Brazil have resulted in the routine practice of thawing multiple straws
simultaneously in the same water-bath unit to increase the convenience of semen handling
and the number of inseminations in a short period.
Because the size of breeding herds continues to increase and the use of estrus synchronization
(as well as the fixed-time artificial insemination protocols) becomes more frequent worldwide,
there are increasing probabilities that several cows will be inseminated on the same day. Hence,
several inseminators have used the practice of thawing, simultaneously, more than one straw
of semen in the same thawing-bath unit to increase the convenience of semen handling.
However, under these conditions, some straws remain in the thawing bath while insemination
occurs. Consequently, the thermal environment of the water bath could have some influence
in sperm viability and fertility.
With this concern Brown et al. [19] demonstrated, in a laboratory study, that semen straws
must be agitated immediately after plunging to prevent direct contact among semen doses and
refreezing during the thaw process. In this case, the simultaneous thawing of multiple straws
had no effect on percentage of motile spermatozoa and acrosomal integrity when up to ten
0.5-mL semen straws were simultaneously thawed in a thermostatically controlled thawing