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Updated: May 29, 2026

Sperm Collection of Differential Quality Using Density Gradient Centrifugation
Published on: November 29, 2018
Colloid centrifugation removes seminal plasma and cholesterol from boar spermatozoa
R Kruse1, P C Dutta, J M Morrell
1Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Abstract:
The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of Single-Layer Centrifugation (SLC) on boar spermatozoa, namely the effect of removal of seminal plasma proteins and cholesterol from the surface of spermatozoa. The presence of porcine seminal plasma proteins I and II (PSP-I/PSP-II) before and after SLC was studied using immunofluorescence, whereas the removal of cholesterol was shown qualitatively by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Finally, the integrity of the sperm plasma membrane was observed by electron microscopy. It was shown that the seminal plasma proteins PSP-I and -II were removed from spermatozoa during SLC but could be restored by adding seminal plasma to the SLC-selected sperm samples. Some cholesterol was also lost from the spermatozoa during SLC but the plasma membrane itself appeared to be morphologically intact. Further studies are underway to examine the relevance of these findings to boar sperm cryopreservation and sperm fertility.
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