Short-Term Storage of Collared Peccary Semen in a Transport Container at 5°C Using Different Extenders.

Abstract

The advancement of short-term storage methods for collared peccary semen targets its potential application in artificial insemination programmes and for combination with cryopreservation techniques. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a transport container (Botutainer) for the preservation of collared peccary semen using commercial extenders (BTS, NUTRIXcell+ and PRIMXcell Ultra) as well as a TRIS + egg yolk extender. Ten ejaculates obtained by electroejaculation were diluted and stored at 5°C for 72 h. The cooled samples were analysed for kinetic aspects (using a computerised system), membrane functionality (hyposmotic test), membrane integrity and mitochondrial activity (fluorescent probes), morphology (Rose Bengal staining) and sperm binding capacity (to the perivitelline membrane of the egg yolk). After 72 h of storage, TRIS, NUTRIXcell and PRIMXcell preserved approximately 60% of motile sperm and 50%-65% of membrane integrity. In contrast, BTS was not effective in maintaining these parameters, preserving only ~40% and 50%, respectively (p < 0.05). All extenders preserved ~50% to 65% of mitochondrial activity and 72%-78% of normal sperm morphology up to 72 h. TRIS was the only extender that preserved ~75% of membrane functionality for 72 h. Finally, BTS exhibited a reduction in perivitelline membrane binding potential after 48 h (p < 0.05), whereas the other extenders showed results comparable to fresh semen. In summary, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the Botutainer device for preserving peccary semen at 5°C for up to 72 h using TRIS, NUTRIXcell and PRIMXcell extenders.