THE USE OF COMPUTER ASSISTED SPERM ANALYZER IN EVALUATING THE SPERM KINEMATICS OF FRESH AND FROZEN-THAWED BUFFALO SEMEN

The cryopreservation process impairs the kinematic movement of sperm cells which account for a reduced motility at post thaw. The study is made to evaluate the sperm kinematics of fresh and frozen-thawed buffalo semen. Three successive semen collections were made and ejaculates from the donor bulls (n=6) were evaluated using the computer assisted sperm analyzer (CASA). Semen was analyzed based on sperm motility, speed of movement and kine­matic parameters which is specific on velocity, head behavior and swimming pattern. Results revealed a significant ( P <0.05) change on the sperm motility (progressively motile, motile and static) and speed of movement (rapid, medium and slow) from fresh to post-thaw stage. The total population of moving sperm cells were found to have a minimal reduction and still maintaining a relatively high percentage (76.18%) at post-thaw. Meanwhile, based on the sperm ki­nematics, significant decrease ( P <0.05) were found on average path velocity, curvilinear velocity, straight line velocity, beat cross frequency, linearity and wobble but not on the amplitude of lateral head movement and straightness. With the slight decline at post- thaw, a good combination of sperm kinematics is still observed making the semen and the donor bulls evaluated acceptable for cryopreservation and artificial insemination.