RT Journal Article
T1 Cryopreservation of ferret (mustela putorius furo) sperm collected by rectal massage and electroejaculation: comparison of a decelerating and an accelerating freezing rate protocol
A1 Toledano Díaz, Adolfo
A1 Castaño, Cristina
A1 Velázquez, Rosario
A1 Bóveda, Paula
A1 López Sebastián, Antonio
A1 Martínez Nevado, Eva
A1 Villaverde Morcillo, Silvia
A1 Esteso, Milagros Cristina
A1 Santiago Moreno, Julián
AB The domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) provides a good model for developing new reproductive technologies for use with threatened related species. Such technologies could also be used in the reproductive management of this pet species. The present work reports an improved freezing protocol for ferret sperm. Semen was collected by electroejaculation plus rectal massage (in an attempt to reduce the electrical stimulation necessary) from five adult male ferrets, and then subjected to one of two freezing protocols: (a) from 5 to −35°C at 40°C/min, then from −35 to −65°C at 17°C/min, and finally from −65 to −85°C at 3°C/min—a decelerating freezing rate; and (b) from 5 to − 10°C at 5°C/min, and then from −10 to −130°C at 60°C/min—an accelerating freezing rate. After thawing, the viability and acrosomal integrity of the sperm frozen via the two-step accelerating method were better than those frozen via the three-step decelerating method (43.3 ± 3.5% and 71.2 ± 3.4% compared with 29.7 ± 3.7% and 58.8 ± 3.4% respectively; p < .05). No differences were seen between the methods with respect to sperm motility variables; most sperm (>90%) remained static with both freezing methods. In conclusion, although the method with accelerating freezing rate was associated with better post-thaw sperm viability and acrosome integrity values, neither of the two freezing methods tested provided adequate motility results after thawing. Combining rectal massage with electrical stimuli seemed to reduce the number of the latter required for successful sperm collection.
PB Wiley
SN 2053-1095
YR 2020
FD 2020-10-11
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/116072
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/116072
LA eng
NO Author Contribution:Adolfo Toledano: Data curation; Investigation; Writing-original draft. Cristina Castaño: Data curation; Investigation; Resources. Rosario Velazquez: Data curation; Software. Paula Boveda: Investigation; Resources. Antonio Lopez-Sebastian: Conceptualization; Writing-review & editing. Eva Martinez Nevado: Writing-review & editing. Silvia Villaverde-Morcillo: Methodology; Validation. Milagros C Esteso: Conceptualization; Funding acquisition. J. Santiago-Moreno: Conceptualization; Formal analysis; Investigation; Writing-review & editing.
NO Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 7 abr 2025