1210
The effect of skim milk as an equine semen extender
Cryopreservation constitutes the best method to conserve the genetic material of great zootechnic value stallions. However, the expenses of this procedure are high, becoming an obstacle to the spread of this biotechnology. One possible way to reduce spending on the process of cryopreservation is to search for alternative and less onerous extender media. The current study aimed at comparing the commercial semen extender (control group) to UHT skim milk (treatment group) used during centrifuging for subsequent cryopreservation of equine semen. After thawing of semen, parameters such as computerized spermatic kinetics and acrosome and plasmatic membrane integrity using fluorescent dyes were assessed. No differences (P>0.05) were observed in what concerns to total sperm motility (42.71 X 38.29%); progressive sperm motility (12.29 X 7.86%); plasmatic membrane integrity (53.43 X 60.14%) and acrosomal membrane integrity (93.29 X 93.71%) between the control and the treatment groups. Considering that UHT skim milk has a much lower cost than the commercial semen extender, this may henceforth skim milk is an option for extending equine semen, which decreases the expenses of the equine semen cryopreservation process.
Keywords: equine, sperm, UHT skim milk