EVALUATION OF THE CRYOTOLERANCE OF SPERMATOZOA IN SOFIA (ELIN-PELIN) SHEEP BREED

Abstract

The Sofia (Elin-Pelin) breed is a local Bulgarian breed with a reduced population and poorly studied possibilities for cryotolerance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cryopreservation on sperm parameters – total motility (TM), velocity parameters and lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels. Sperm motility and velocity parameters were examined by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). LPO levels were determined spectrophotometrically. As a result, we found a decrease in sperm TM after thawing from 99.01±0.68% to 71.92±5.12%, which is acceptable for artificial insemination and a slight increase in LPO levels from 0.86±0.23 nmoles MDA/10x106 sp. to 1.44±0.37 nmoles MDA/10x106 sp. after thawing. In conclusion from the conducted studies sperm from the Sofia (Elin-Pelin) breed showed good cryotolerance with a low percentage of damage after thawing, with which we believe that cryopreservation would be a suitable method for breeding and preserving this breed.