The Importance of Studying Factors That Affect the In Vitro Evaluation of Semen Quality to Predict Potential Fertility in Males

Abstract

The presence of sub-fertile or infertile males in farms or artificial insemination (AI) centres has a great impact on the reproductive and economic performance of the livestock industry. Assessment of the field fertility of males or ejaculates (or seminal samples from experimental protocols) with a large number of AI procedures can take a long time and involves high costs. The early detection of these males or semen samples with low-potential fertility by means of in vitro analysis is extremely valuable. While infertile male detection may be more or less evident, the detection of sub-fertile males requires procedures of in vitro evaluation of sperm quality to be as optimized. Moreover, to evaluate the effect of cooled storage or cryopreservation, it is essential to have adequate procedures for in vitro evaluation, to know the real impact of these techniques and to improve them. Most published papers reporting optimizing procedures for in vitro assessment of sperm focus on human, laboratory animal or livestock species with important economic weight. However, the description of semen quality parameters in other wild or less studied, but no less important, species (e.g., bees) is vital for animal biodiversity conservation programs.