[Variability in plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential and acrosomal status before and after...

In the present study variability of bull sperm concerning percentages of sperm with intact plasma membranes (PMI), high mitochondrial membrane potential (HMMP) and positive acrosomal status (PAS) before and after cryopreservation (vKK; nKK) between bulls and between ejaculates within bulls was examined. Studies were performed on 4 semen samples each of 20 Deutsche Fleckvieh bulls. VKK-Values were 76.5% +/- 9.6% (PMI) 68.3% +/- 8.9% (HMMP) and 9.8 +/- 5.1% (PAS) and nKK-values were 38.1 +/- 14.0% (PMI), 38.2 +/- 14.0% (HMMP) and 30.9 +/- 12.1% (PAS). After freezing, variabilities in sperm parameter values between bulls (nKK: PMI: 49.8%, HMMP 52.1% and PAS: 56.6%) were nearly quite as high or higher than variabilities between ejaculates (nKK: 50.2%, 47.9% and 43.4%). VKK-values of PMI, HMMP and PAS were only fairly to moderately related (0.36 < r < 0.53; P < 0.05) to nKK-values. The results show that PMI, HMMP and PAS did not only vary between bulls, but also between ejaculates within bulls. As there are no high relationships in these sperm parameters between times before and after cryopreservation, each ejaculate should be examined after cryopreservation in order to receive a reliable information about the quality of cryopreserved sperm.