view - Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health

CHAPTER 2
As evidenced in the general introduction, little or no standardization is present in equine
(animal) andrology, which is in sharp contrast with human andrology. Even the use of computer
assisted sperm analysis (CASA), an excellent tool for objectively reporting on semen motility, can so
far not achieve uniformity in equine semen analysis.
Therefore, the general aim of the present thesis was to evaluate to which extent motility is
influenced during analysis with an objective analysis system like CASA or to find an alternative
objective analytical method that is not influenced by the operator. Additionally, the muddled
perspective on sperm losses following centrifugation was analyzed combined with the impact of
different centrifugation protocols on sperm quality. A recently developed technique to select large
volumes of semen (Single layer Centrifugation using Androcoll-E) was evaluated for its possibilities to
improve the post-thawed sperm quality.
Consequently, the specific aims of this thesis were:
• To determine the effect of technical settings and utensils on the reported motility
parameters when using CASA systems for equine semen analysis (CHAPTER 3.1 – 3.2).
• To validate the “Sperm Quality Analyzer – V equine” for analyzing equine semen
(CHAPTER 3.3 – 3.4).
• To evaluate the effect of centrifugation procedures (classical centrifugation and
single layer centrifugation) on the quality of processed equine semen (CHAPTER 4.1 –
4.2).
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