Rate of establishment of a fertilising population of spermatozoa in the sheep cervix after a single mating at the onset of oestrus
✍ Scribed by Hunter, R. H. F. ;Nichol, R.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1993
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 454 KB
- Volume
- 266
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-104X
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
In order to study how soon a population of spermatozoa capable of fertilisation could progress into the cervical canal, the vaginal contents were flushed with a detergent solution at different intervals after mating at the onset of oestrus. Eggs recovered 1 or 2 days later from the oviducts were stained and examined by phase‐contrast microscopy. Flushing at 3 minutes after mating did not prevent fertilisation in 44% of instances, whereas similar flushes performed at 6 or 9 minutes completely prevented fertilisation in a total of 26 animals. In the groups flushed at 12 and 15 minutes, the proportion of eggs fertilised was 21% and 24%, respectively, and this increased to 37% after flushing at 18 minutes. An explanation is offered for the paradoxical finding at 3 minutes, and it is concluded that at least 30–60 minutes would be required for adequate colonisation of the cervix with a fertilising population of spermatozoa under the conditions employed in the experiment. However, multiple matings or mating closer to the time of ovulation might act to reduce this interval. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.