Resumen

R. WILDE, Oscar; DE LA VEGA, Adolfo C  y  CRUZ, Maria L.. Effect of caffeine and lactate addition on the motility of equine semen diluted in skim-glucose milk. Zootecnia Trop. [online]. 2004, vol.22, n.1, pp.101-112. ISSN 0798-7269.

In equines, artificial insemination is practiced mostly with the use of refrigerated semen due to the difficulties that comes with the preservation of frozen semen. To improve the conservation conditions at 5ºC (refrigerated semen) it is necessary to consider the spermatic deterioration after the gathering, because components of the seminal plasma complicate the survival of the sperm with oxidative processes. Some components have antioxidant properties and improve notably the spermatic motility and survival. In this experience sodium lactate (2 mM) and caffeine (10 mM) were incorporated at the moment of the dilution of the semen, and at 48 h of conservation at 5ºC in a skim milk - glucose bases extender, with the purpose of studying their effects on the sperm. Incorporated at the moment of the dilution, the lactate and the caffeine induced more vigorous movements than the samples without additives. When they were added at 48 h of preservation at 5ºC, both additives produced a remarkable recovery in the motility (49% vs. 31%). When these same samples were cultivated at 37ºC, at 30 minutes of incubation those without additives had scarce mobile forms (5%), and different from those added with lactate (29%) and caffeine (40%). At 60 minutes, the samples without additives hardly registered movement while the rest maintained the former percentages. In the three cases, there were found statistical differences (P<0.01) among treatments with additive and the control. The additive added at beginning or at 48 h did not show significant differences. It is concluded that the lactate and the caffeine can be used as diluters of equine semen skim milk-glucose bases.

Palabras clave : semen; equine; motility; caffeine; lactate.