The relationship between blood serum and seminal plasma cholesterol content in young boars and their semen qualitative traits and testes size

Abstract. The relationship between blood serum and seminal plasma cholesterol concentration and semen traits and testes size was examined on 110 young boars (6 month old) of the 990 synthetic line. In the study were determined: testes volume, semen quality traits (ejaculate volume, motile spermatozoa percentage, spermatozoa concentration and total number per ejaculate, percentage of spermatozoa with normal acrosome, percentage of spermatozoa with major and minor morphological defects, osmotic resistance test value [ORT] and activity of aspartate aminotransferase in seminal plasma [AspAT]). Cholesterol content in blood serum and seminal plasma were determined. Mean cholesterol content in blood serum amounted to 71.2, while that in seminal plasma to 6.96 mg/dL. Total cholesterol content in blood serum correlated positively with testes volume (P≤0.05), whereas no correlation was found with semen quality traits of the examined males. Cholesterol concentration in seminal plasma was positively correlated (P≤0.05) with spermatozoa motility, concentration and total number, while negatively (P≤0.05) with the percentage of spermatozoa with major morphological defects and the activity of AspAT in seminal plasma. No relationship was found between total cholesterol content in blood serum and that in seminal plasma.