Post-Ejaculatory Blood Plasma Canine Prostate-Specific Esterase Concentrations May Predict Total Motility Decline...

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Reproduction
• Animal Biotechnology
• Sperm Cryobiology

Background:

• Cryopreservation of dog semen is common but predicting success is challenging.
• Variability exists in post-thaw sperm quality among individual dogs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between plasma canine prostate-specific esterase (CPSE) and dog semen freezability.
• To determine if CPSE can serve as a biomarker for sperm cryoresilience.

Main Methods:

• Quantified CPSE levels in post-ejaculatory blood plasma using immunoassay.
• Assessed sperm quality (motility, kinematics, morphology) in fresh and cryopreserved samples.
• Correlated CPSE levels with sperm parameters before and after cryopreservation.

Main Results:

• Cryopreservation significantly reduced sperm motility and morphology, with individual variability.
• CPSE levels correlated with morpho-functional sperm parameters in fresh and frozen-thawed semen (p ≤ 0.05).
• CPSE demonstrated predictive value for total motility post-thaw (p = 0.004), with a threshold of 53 ng/mL identifying dogs with ≥20% motility decline (AUC = 0.785, p = 0.010).

Conclusions:

• Post-ejaculatory plasma CPSE levels may indicate sperm cryoresilience in dogs.
• CPSE shows potential as a biomarker for predicting canine sperm freezability.
• This could improve selection protocols for semen cryopreservation in canine reproduction.