The aim of this study was to test the effect on the motility, viability and the acrosomal status of bull sperm. Pooled semen from Holstein bulls were incubated in the presence of 2, 4, and 8 μg E2/mL for 24 h. Semen was also incubated in media without E2. During the incubation, the number of motile, viable sperm and the number of sperm possessing lost/damaged 2/mL at 18 h of incubation increased the total motility over the control. The number of forward progressing sperm was increased by the supplementation of 2 and 8 μg E2/mL over the control group at the 4 h incubation. Lower doses of E2 (2 and 4 μg/mL) did not affect viability of sperm, but a high dose of E2 (8 μg/mL) caused reductions in viability at 4 and 24 h of incubation. The number of sperm cells with lost acrosomes was significantly high in control group at 24 h of incubation. The number of sperm cells possessing proximal and distal cytoplasmic droplets and the number of sperm cells bearing coiled tails were not altered by any of the treatments. A small dose of E2 (2 μg/mL) had a beneficial effect on the motility and acrosome integrity of bull sperm in vitro. Higher dose of E2 (8 μg/mL) had a detrimental effect on viability.
"Experientia docet" - Experience is the best teacher