Basioura Athina, Tsakmakidis Ioannis A, Morrell Jane M, Ntallaris Theodoros
Farm Animals Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 Jun 5;12:1611751. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1611751. eCollection 2025.
Bacterial contamination of ejaculates during semen collection is practically inevitable, and antibiotics are a constituent of semen extenders. However, bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a serious problem. The present study investigated the effect of preparing semen by centrifugation using a low-density colloid during the preparation of semen doses under field conditions, as an alternative to the use of antibiotics.
Five ejaculates from four boars were each divided into two aliquots: control semen doses, which were extended with a commercial Beltsville Thawing Solution (BTS) containing antibiotics (30 × 10 spermatozoa/mL), and treated semen doses, which were processed with Porcicoll (300 × g; 20 min); the resulting sperm pellet was re-suspended in Beltsville Thawing Solution without antibiotics (30 × 10 spermatozoa/mL). Sperm motility and kinematic variables were assessed for the control and treated semen doses using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). Sows were divided into two groups and inseminated with either the control or treated semen doses. In the second round, after weaning the litters from the first round, the sows in the control group were inseminated with the treated semen doses and those in the treated group received the control semen doses. For all groups, the pregnancy rate, farrowing rate, litter size, number of live-born piglets, and number of weaned piglets were recorded.
No differences ( > 0.05) between the control and treated semen doses or between the rounds were observed for any CASA-assessed motility and kinematic variables. Pregnancy ( = 0.0271) and farrowing ( = 0.046) rates were higher in the sows in the control group compared to the treated group. No differences were observed in litter size, number of live-born piglets, and number of weaned piglets ( > 0.05) between the control and treated groups, and farrowing rates were the same for the sows in both rounds. Under the current experimental conditions, sperm quality was not impaired by treatment with Porcicoll. An interesting finding is that the sows were able to become pregnant again after insemination with semen doses lacking antibiotics, with no effect on reproductive output.
In conclusion, artificial insemination (AI) with boar semen doses processed using Porcicoll, meeting modern requirements for alternatives to antibiotics, could be a promising state-of-the-art approach.
精液采集过程中，精液受到细菌污染几乎不可避免，而抗生素是精液稀释液的成分之一。然而，细菌对抗生素的耐药性是一个严重问题。本研究探讨了在野外条件下精液剂量制备过程中，使用低密度胶体离心法制备精液的效果，以此作为使用抗生素的替代方法。
从4头公猪采集的5份精液每份均分为两份：对照精液剂量，用含抗生素的商业贝尔茨维尔解冻液（BTS）进行稀释（30×10个精子/毫升）；处理后的精液剂量，用Porcicoll（300×g；20分钟）处理；将得到的精子沉淀重新悬浮于不含抗生素的贝尔茨维尔解冻液中（30×10个精子/毫升）。使用计算机辅助精子分析（CASA）评估对照和处理后的精液剂量的精子活力和运动学变量。将母猪分为两组，分别用对照或处理后的精液剂量进行授精。在第二轮中，第一轮产仔断奶后，对照组母猪用处理后的精液剂量授精，处理组母猪接受对照精液剂量。记录所有组的妊娠率、产仔率、窝产仔数、活产仔猪数和断奶仔猪数。
对于任何CASA评估的活力和运动学变量，对照和处理后的精液剂量之间或各轮之间均未观察到差异（P>0.05）。对照组母猪的妊娠率（P=0.0271）和产仔率（P=0.046）高于处理组。对照和处理组之间的窝产仔数、活产仔猪数和断奶仔猪数未观察到差异（P>0.05），且两轮中母猪的产仔率相同。在当前实验条件下，用Porcicoll处理不会损害精子质量。一个有趣的发现是，母猪用不含抗生素的精液剂量授精后能够再次怀孕，且对繁殖产量没有影响。
总之，使用Porcicoll处理公猪精液剂量进行人工授精（AI），符合现代对抗生素替代物的要求，可能是一种有前景的先进方法。
