Correlation between Fluoromicroscipic Assessment of Mitochondria Function of Frozen-Thawed Hanwoo Spermatozoa and Blastocyst Development Following In Vitro Fertilization

This experiment was to investigate whether the mitochondria function assessment can be used for the prediction of sperm fertility through examining the correlation between mitochondria fluoromicroscopic frequency of frozen-thawed eight Hanwoo bull semen using rhodamine123 (R123) and in vitro embryo development following fertilization. Individual sperm were stained in 5 ${\mu}g/mL$ R123-added calcium-free Sp-TALP for 30 min at 0 h, 6 h, 12 h and 24 h after thawing and examined their mid-piece under an epifluorescence microscope using 495 nm excitation filter (x1,000). Three replications were taken, and at least 300 sperm per individual were examined. When semen samples were separated into two groups (good and poor) by sperm motility and fluorescent frequencies at just after thawing, average fluorescent frequencies were remarkably reduced as time going (0 h; $53.29{\~}72.94\%$, 6 h; $21.40{\~}58.90\%$, 12 h; $8.26{\~}25.93\%$, 24 h; $1.00{\~}13.78\%$, irrespective of selected group, and there were no differences at 6 h or 12 h after thawing between selected groups but indicated significant difference at 24 h after thawing (p<0.05). In vitro fertilization rates in good and poor groups ranging $70.8{\~}77.8\%$ and $52.1{\~}84.5\%$, respectively, were not significantly different. However, in vitro development rates of the same groups ranging $25.7{\~}40.0\%$ and $12.9{\~}1.8\%$, respectively, were significant different (p<0.05). These results demonstrate that mitochondria fluoromicroscopic assessment of frozen-thawed bovine sperm may be used as a criterion to select more fertile sperm.