Evaluation of viability and cytoplasmic droplets in sperm cells harvested from the dromedary cauda epididymis

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate viability and cytoplasmic droplets (CD) in camel epididymal sperm cells. Epididymal samples from 7 adult male camels were utilized. The cauda epididymis was immersed in saline, minced and allowed to stand. It was filtered and an aliquot was stained with Eosin-Nigrosin stain. A smear was made on two slides, one each for the left and right epididymides. Twenty different fields per slide were examined using a microscope equipped with an eyepiece camera. The numbers of stained (dead) and unstained (living) cells were counted and reported as paired live-dead counts. Chi-square test for independence was carried out and viability was found to be associated with presence of CD. A reasonable proportion of live sperm cells (1824/2362) were recorded. Live spermatozoa with distal CD were higher in number (969/1824) than those with no droplets (641/1824) and those with proximal CD (214/1824). For the dead spermatozoa, a higher count of spermatozoa with no CD (346/538) followed by those with distal CD (143/538) and lastly those with proximal CD (49/538) was observed. It can be concluded that viability of camel spermatozoa was encouraging; hence, the possibility of its use in assisted reproductive technologies.

Keywords: Assisted reproduction, cytoplasmic droplets, epididymal sperm, male camel