Use of dimethylacetamide and dimethylformamide associated with
glycerol or not for cryopreservation of ovine semen
extenders, spermatozoa, amides, reproduction biotechnology.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of cryoprotectants dimethylacetamide
(DMA) and dimethylformamide (DMF) associated or not to glycerol (GL) used in the
formulation of diluent media for cryopreservation of ovine semen in vitro sperm parameters
and fertility in vivo. For that, two experiments were carried out with seven treatments each. In
the experiment 1 the objective was to evaluate the effect of the use of dimethylacetamide, in
different concentrations, associated or not to glycerol, for the preparation of diluents for sperm
cryopreservation, on sperm parameters and fertility index of post-thaw sheep semen. The
treatments were divided into G1: GL6%; G2: DMA3%; G3: GL5% + DMA1%; G4: GL4% +
DMA2%; G5: GL3% + DMA3%; G6: GL2% + DMA4% and G7: GL1% + DMA5%.
Experiment 2 had the objective of studying the efficiency of dimethylformamide in different
concentrations in the dilution media, associated or not to glycerol, for the maintenance of ovine
sperm viability in vitro and in vivo after thawing. The groups were divided into G1: GL6%;
G2: DMF3%; G3: GL5% + DMF1%; G4: GL4% + DMF2%; G5: GL3% + DMF3%; G6: GL2%
+ DMF4%; G7: GL1% + DMF5%. Samples from both experiments were evaluated after
thawing, for sperm kinetics through computer assisted sperm analysis and membrane integrity
by flow cytometry. The results were analyzed through the Statistical Analysis System - SAS
with significance level of 5%. No difference (P> 0.05) was observed between the treatments of
experiment 1 using DMA in the in vitro and in vivo evaluations. In experiment 2 with DMF,
there was difference in membrane integrity only between G4 and G7 (P <0.05), which was not
demonstrated in the in vivo test. It was concluded that cryoprotectants based on
dimethylacetamide and dimethylformamide were efficient in the cryopreservation of ovine
semen and could be used as an alternative cryoprotectant.