Nuclear DNA Fragmentation in Boar Spermatozoa: Measurement Methods and Reproductive Performance Implications

The aim of this research was to compare the different techniques to measure sperm nuclear DNA fragmentation (sDF) and to check its relations to boar reproductive value, classical spermiogram parameters, and reproductive results of the doses in sows. Sperm chromatin stability assay (SCSA), terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, and sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCD, Halomax (R)) results were compared, finding a statistically significant correlation only between SCSA and TUNEL results. The fertility direct boar effect (DBE) index, calculated from the whole productive life of the boar, was not correlated (p > 0.05) with sDF (measured by any technique). Total or progressive sperm motility was not correlated with sDF, while it found a positive correlation between TUNEL measure and abnormal acrosomes (%) and between SCD measure and total sperm morphological abnormalities (%). No significant correlations were obtained between fertility or prolificacy results and sDF results with the different techniques. However, in the case of total born and SCSA measure, the correlation was close to significance (r partial = -0.095; p = 0.066), appointing to a tendency; as SCSA increases, the number of total piglets born decreases. In conclusion, although the different techniques for the sDF seem not to target exactly the same DNA events and the relationship between their values and the reproductive results and the classical spermiogram results is still to be elucidated, the studied sDF techniques may offer extra information that could be useful for the management of AI studs.

Automated summary

This study aimed to compare different techniques for measuring sperm nuclear DNA fragmentation (sDF) and examine their relationship with boar reproductive value, classical spermiogram parameters, and reproductive results of the doses in sows. The findings indicate a significant correlation between sperm chromatin stability assay (SCSA) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay results. However, there was no correlation between sDF and fertility direct boar effect (DBE) index, total or progressive sperm motility. TUNEL measure showed a positive correlation with abnormal acrosomes and sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCD, Halomax (R)) measure showed a positive correlation with total sperm morphological abnormalities. No significant correlations were found between fertility or prolificacy results and sDF results with the different techniques.