Head dimensions of cryopreserved red deer spermatozoa are affected by thawing procedure

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the thawing procedure on red deer spermatozoa distribution in morphologically distinct subpopulations after freezing and thawing. For this purpose, epididymal spermatozoa were thawed using two different thawing protocols (I = 37°C for 20 s vs. II = 70°C for 5 s). The spermatozoa, from 10 Iberian deer stags, were diluted at room temperature in a Triladyl®-20% egg yolk medium and frozen in nitrogen vapor. Standard sperm freezability was judged by microscopic assessments of sperm motility (%). The thawing procedure had an effect on sperm motility percentage (P < 0.05), with the best overall recovery rates found with the use of protocol I (76.8 ± 1.8 vs. 70.6 ± 1.8). Moreover, the morphometric dimensions for a minimum of 200 sperm heads were analyzed from each sample by means of the Sperm-Class Analyser® (SCA), and the mean measurements recorded. Deer sperm heads were significantly (P < 0.01) smaller when spermatozoa were thawed using protocol II than when using procedure I (area = 30.02 µm² vs. 30.32 µm²; width = 4.47 µm vs. 4.51 µm; length = 8.05 µm vs. 8.11 µm), but not for all stags. All sperm head measurements were placed in a statistical database and a multivariate cluster analysis performed. Mean measurements for all parameters of the major clusters for the two different thawing procedures were compared by ANOVA. The mean values for length, width, area, perimeter, shape factor and width/length in the major cluster of sperm head dimensions for thawing protocol I were significantly different from those for protocol II (P < 0.001). In addition, differences were found within all stags for whole morphometric parameters (P < 0.001), with the smallest overall sperm head dimensions found with the use of protocol II. Additionally, the rapid thawing protocol produced a dramatic loss of heterogeneity. Finally, our results showed that the greater the loss of heterogeneity, the greater the degree of sperm cryoinjury.