Academic literature on the topic 'Ram spermatozoa'

This study was conducted to investigate the possibility of using bovine oocytes for a heterologous fertility test by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and to compare the pronuclear formation of ram, bull and minke whale spermatozoa after injection into bovine oocytes. Bovine oocytes were cultured in vitro for 24 h and those with a polar body were selected for ICSI. Frozen-thawed semen from the three species were treated with 5 mM dithiothreitol for 1 h and spermatozoa were killed by storing them in a -20 °C refrigerator before use. ICSI was performed using a Piezo system. Three experiments were designed. In experiment 1, a higher (p < 0.05) male pronuclear formation rate was found in the oocytes injected with ram (52.6%) or bull (53.4%) spermatozoa than with minke whale spermatozoa (39.1%). In experiment 2, sperm head decondensation was detected at 2 h after ICSI in the oocytes injected with a spermatozoon of each species. Male pronuclei were first observed at 4 h in the oocytes injected with ram or bull spermatozoa and at 6 h in oocytes injected with minke whale spermatozoa. The mean diameters of male pronuclei derived from both whale and bull spermatozoa were larger than those from ram spermatozoa (30.4 μm and 28.3 μm vs 22.4 μm, p < 0.005). The mean diameter of female pronuclei in the oocytes injected with whale spermatozoa was also larger than with ram spermatozoa (29.3 μm vs 24.7 μm, p < 0.05). The development of male and female pronuclei was synchronous. In experiment 3, ethanol-activated oocytes injected with a spermatozoon from any of the three species achieved significantly higher (p < 0.05-0.001) cleavage rates than control oocytes. Blastocyst formation was only observed when bull spermatozoa were used. The results of this study indicate that dead foreign spermatozoa can participate in fertilisation activities in bovine oocytes after ICSI.

Spermatozoa in fresh semen of Sapudi ram has a limited life span. The storage of semen in cold temperatures (5 °C) is intended to prolong the spermatozoa's life. However, storage in cold temperatures can lead to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This condition reduces the quality of spermatozoa. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of alphatocopherol supplementation in skim milk-egg yolk extender on viability, motility, and plasma membrane integrity of Sapudi ram spermatozoa. Fresh semen derived from Sapudi ram was divided into four treatment groups. Control treatment (P0): semen was added in the extender of skim milkegg yolk without alpha-tocopherol. Three other treatments: P1, P2, and P3 semen were added in skim milk-egg yolk extender with the supplementation of 0.25, 0.5, and 1 gram alpha-tocopherol/ 100 mL extender, respectively. The results showed that the viability, motility, and integrity of the spermatozoa plasma membrane decreased gradually according to the storage length. Supplementation of skim milk-egg yolk extender with 0.5 gram of alpha-tocopherol/100 mL (P2) was able to maintain spermatozoa quality longer (p <0.05) than the control group. It can be concluded that alpha-tocopherol with a concentration of 0.5 g/100 mL of skim milk-egg yolk extender effectively maintains the quality of Sapudi ram spermatozoa in storage at 5 ° C.

Following insemination, ram spermatozoa are transported to the isthmus region of the oviduct where they bind to the oviductal epithelial cells (OEC), remaining viable for several hours. The aim of the present study was to begin to decipher which component(s) of the ewe oviduct actively participates in maintaining the viability of ram spermatozoa. A series of experiments was conducted to investigate whether: (1) soluble OEC apical plasma membrane proteins (sAPM) isolated from ewes prolong survival of ram spermatozoa over an extended (48 h) coincubation period at 39°C; (2) a recombinant form of one of these oviductal proteins, namely heat shock 70 kDa protein 8 (HSPA8), prolongs survival of ram spermatozoa; and (3) pretreatment with HSPA8 antibody compromises the ability of sAPM to prolong the survival of ram spermatozoa. Both sAPM and recombinant HSPA8 had a beneficial effect on the viability of ram spermatozoa during coincubation, although both these effects were dose dependent. In contrast, pretreatment with HSPA8 antibody significantly negated the ability of sAPM to maintain the viability of ram spermatozoa. These findings suggest that HSPA8 is an active component of the ewe oviduct that participates in maintaining the viability of ram spermatozoa. This is a potentially valuable observation given that there is a great deal of room for improving existing diluents for storing fresh ram semen.

Fatty acids with carbon chain lengths greater than 22 (VLCFA) have been detected in boar, ram, bull and human spermatozoa. Saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids were present in all spermatozoa but, except for human spermatozoa, polyenoic fatty acids were quantitatively the most important components. Marked differences in polyenoic fatty acid composition were observed. Whereas human spermatozoa contain predominantly di-, tri- and tetraenoic fatty acids with up to 32 carbon atoms, boar, ram and bull spermatozoa also contain pentaenoic and/or hexaenoic acids with up to 34 carbon atoms. Human and boar spermatozoa differ markedly from those of the ram and bull in that only n-6 series acids are present.

The effect of cryopreservation on the capacitation status and fertility of ram spermatozoa was observed. After the chlortetracycline staining technique was validated for ram spermatozoa, it was applied to fresh or long-term frozen-stored spermatozoa. Fresh spermatozoa displayed mainly the F pattern (non-capacitated; 61·3%), becoming B pattern (capacitated; 54%) and AR pattern (acrosome reacted; 41%) with incubation (6 h at 37°C). In contrast, frozen spermatozoa displayed the B pattern (65· 9%), becoming the AR pattern (64·2%) with incubation. This demonstrates that cryopreservation may cause membrane changes in ram spermatozoa functionally equivalent to capacitation. The differences in capacitation status did not affectin vitro fertilization rates between fresh and frozen spermatozoa, but pregnancy rates at Day 18 after intrauterine artificial insemination were higher for fresh than for frozen spermatozoa. This difference was not evident at Day 50, possibly as a result of the high embryonic loss between Days 18 and 50 when fresh unincubated and frozen incubated spermatozoa were inseminated. Further research is necessary to determine what part of the cryopreservation process is responsible for the membrane changes in ram spermatozoa.

Although it is known that ram spermatozoa exhibit hyperactivated motility under capacitating conditions, quantitative analyses of the head and flagellar movement of washed ram spermatozoa have not been published. Motile spermatozoa were recovered from semen by swim-up into HSOF medium, and their movement in 30-µm-deep chambers was videorecorded. Spermatozoa of interest were identified during tape playback (hyperactivated spermatozoa were identified by visual assessment of flagellar movement) and sequential head and tail images were traced onto overhead projector film attached to the video monitor. The flagellar movement characteristics beat angle (FBA), beat envelope (FBE) and curvature ratio (FCR) were determined by first principles, and head centroid kinematics were determined using Cartesian methods. Hyperactivated spermatozoa had significantly higher FBA and FBE and significantly lower FCR values than non-hyperactivated spermatozoa (all P<0.0001). The centroid kinematic values were also found to be significantly different, and kinematic criteria for ram sperm hyperactivation were developed. These criteria were refined by consideration of 60-Hz CASA-derived trajectories, and ram sperm hyperactivation was defined by: VCL > 250.0 µm s −1 and VSL ≤ 100.0 m s −1 and LIN ≤ 30% and ALHmax ≥ 9.0 µm.

Abstract Reduced glutathione (GSH) and homologous ram seminal plasma (HSP), used as additives in cryopreserving (CP) media prior to freezing, showed conflicting results in retaining structural integrity and progressive motility in post-thawed ram spermatozoa. The aims of this research were: (1) to assess the effect of GSH and/or HSP supplementation via soybean-lecithin CP extender on cryopreserved ram spermatozoa viability, morphology and motility pattern; and (2) to assess the effect of incubation in the context of the previous aim. Quantitatively and qualitatively, homogenized and pooled ram ejaculates (N=10) were extended with one of the following extenders: control (C) – tris-based, GSH and HSP-free, experimental-1 (E1) – C + GSH 5 mM, experimental-2 (E2) – C + HSP 20 % and experimental-3 (E3) - GSH 5 mM + HSP 20 %. Following thawing, samples were taken at 0- and 3-hours from each group (n=10) and were assessed for spermatozoa viability, morphology, and motility pattern. C-0h samples yielded a spermatozoa population with low viability, altered head morphology and highly deviated motility pattern. E3-3h samples yielded spermatozoa with unaffected viability, head morphology and high progressive motility. In conclusion, E3 extender added to cryopreserved-thawed ram spermatozoa is most efficient in obtaining high viability, unaltered head morphology, and progressive motility.

The aim of the study was to identify heterosomes in the semen of three Romanov rams – carriers of leukocyte chimerism (FISH technique) and to determine the proportions between spermatozoa with X and Y chromosomes. The choice of bovine probes for hybridization with ram heterosomes was dictated by genetic conservatism of bovine and ovine heterosomes. The ratio between spermatozoa with a yellow fluorescent signal containing the X chromosome in the haploid set and spermatozoa with a red-purple signal indicating the presence of the Y chromosome, taking into account spermatozoa with no signal, was 52%:43%:5% in ram No. PL100006077676; 47%:44%:9% in ram No. PL100006078031; and 48%:46%:6% in ram No. PL100006078895. The results obtained lead us to conclude that the 54,XX/54,XY chimerism has no effect on sex ratio in offspring.

Following insemination, ram spermatozoa bind to oviducal epithelial cells (OEC) in vivo and remain viable for several hours before fertilisation. In the present study, we investigated whether OEC monolayers reproduce this effect in vitro, performing an analysis of ram sperm binding and survival over an extended (48 h) period at 39°C. We wanted to determine whether the reproductive cycle phase and/or oviducal region would influence ram sperm binding and survival in coculture with OEC and whether reproductive and non-reproductive epithelial cells bound and maintained the viability of ram spermatozoa equivalently. Oviducts were separated into groups based on their ovarian state (follicular or luteal) and then divided into two parts (isthmus and ampulla) for OEC isolation. Sheep kidney epithelial cells (Madin-Darby ovine kidney; MDOK) were purchased commercially. Reproductive cycle phase, but not oviducal region, affected sperm binding to OEC. Although more spermatozoa bound to luteal OEC than to follicular OEC at 1 h, at 24 h follicular OEC had bound more spermatozoa than luteal OEC. Generally, spermatozoa that were bound to OEC and MDOK had enhanced viability at each of the time points investigated (1, 6, 24 and 48 h), but the viability of the OEC-bound spermatozoa was greater than that of the MDOK-bound spermatozoa at 48 h. In conclusion, ram sperm–epithelial cell interactions are temporal, dynamic and depend on the origin of the epithelial cells.

Bibliography: leaves 267-292. This study aimed at finding better ways of storing ram semen at refrigerator or room temperature with particular reference to ingredients readily available in Indonesia, namely coconut extract and quail egg yolk. Coconut extract showed consistent advantages with regard to sperm motility and quail egg yolk was as effective as hen egg yolk. Investigations were extended to examine storage for subnormal semen such as would be produced during periods of heat stress. Motility was assessed visually and using a Hamilton Thorn semen evaluation apparatus.

Abstract Birth of offspring of a pre-determined sex using flow cytometrically sorted fresh spermatozoa was first achieved in rabbits by Johnson et al. (1989). Since then offspring have been produced using sex-sorted spermatozoa from several different species (reviewed by Johnson, 2000). Initially, efficiency of the sex-sorting technology was poor with only low numbers of spermatozoa sorted per hour. Thus, the offspring derived from flow cytometrically sorted spermatozoa were produced with the use of artificial reproductive technologies (ART) such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and culture (IVC), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and deep artificial insemination (AI) which facilitated low dose insemination of potentially compromised spermatozoa. More recently, the development of high-speed sorters (Johnson and Welch, 1999) has facilitated the production of offspring using conventional AI techniques with low dose inseminates (Seidel et al., 1999) and successful cryopreservation of sorted spermatozoa (Schenk et al., 1999; Johnson et al., 2000; Lindsey et al., 2002; Schenk and DeGrofft, 2003). Increased efficiency of sorting bull spermatozoa has evolved through significant instrumentation and biological developments which have enabled the commercialization of the sperm sexing technology in the dairy industry, although conception rates in cows after low dose AI with sexed frozen-thawed spermatozoa are still lower than after standard frozen semen AI (Seidel et al., 1999). Subsequently, over 20 000 calves of pre-determined sex have been produced from commercially available sex-sorted frozen-thawed bull spermatozoa (Seidel, 2003). However, similar developments have not been made in the sheep industry and were examined in this thesis. In this study, successful cryopreservation of sex-sorted ram spermatozoa and production of offspring of the pre-determined sex (X: 94.4 %; Y: 100 %) was achieved after low dose (2-4 x 106 total) insemination using conventional laparoscopic intrauterine (IU) AI. However, the overall pregnancy rate for ewes inseminated with sex-sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa was low (25 %) compared to ewes inseminated with a commercial dose (140 x 106 total) of non-sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa (54 %). Cryopreservation has been found to not only reduce the proportion of motile spermatozoa, but cause the remaining spermatozoa to undergo changes that advance membrane maturation thereby shortening their lifespan, especially after in vivo fertilisation (Gillan and Maxwell, 1999). It was found that sorting prior to cryopreservation accelerated the maturation of sperm membranes and after co-incubation with oviducal cells in vitro, sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa were released more rapidly than non-sorted (control) frozen-thawed spermatozoa. The potentially reduced lifespan of sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa, and practical constraints on the number of spermatozoa that can be sorted for an insemination dose, makes insemination close to the site of fertilisation and time of ovulation critical for successful fertilisation. After treatment of ewes with GnRH to increase the precision of insemination in respect to the time of ovulation, there was no difference in pregnancy rate between ewes inseminated before, during or after the assumed time of ovulation. Furthermore, there was no difference in pregnancy rate after IU AI with similar doses of sorted frozen-thawed and non-sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa in GnRH-treated ewes. The minimum dose of sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa required for commercially acceptable pregnancy rates determined after IU AI was high (20 x 106 motile). Consequently, alternative methods for efficiently producing large numbers of offspring of a pre-determined sex using flow cytometrically sorted ram spermatozoa were investigated. Ram spermatozoa can be stored for short periods of time in a chilled state (liquid storage) or for an indefinite period of time in a frozen state (frozen storage; Salamon and Maxwell, 2000). The fixed location of the sperm sorter requires the need for transport of semen from the point of collection to the site of sorting and processing, but also from the sperm sorter site to the recipient females under artificial conditions. In this study, ram spermatozoa liquid stored for 24 h prior to sorting were efficiently sorted, frozen, thawed and after in vitro fertilisation and culture produced a high proportion of grade 1 blastocysts. Similarly, spermatozoa stored at reduced temperatures after sorting maintained high sperm quality for up to 6 days. Furthermore, frozen-thawed spermatozoa from rams and some non-human primates were successfully prepared for sorting and efficiently sorted producing spermatozoa with high quality in vitro parameters. The quality of frozen-thawed ram spermatozoa after sorting was such that successful re-cryopreservation after sorting was possible. Low numbers of frozen-thawed sorted and re-frozen and thawed spermatozoa were optimal for IVF and a high proportion of grade 1 in vitro embryos of a pre-determined sex were produced. These embryos were either transferred immediately or vitrified prior to transfer, extending the application of the sperm sexing technology further. The birth of lambs of pre-determined sex after transfer of both fresh and vitrified embryos derived from frozen-thawed sorted spermatozoa was achieved. The findings in this thesis suggest that sorted frozen-thawed ram spermatozoa may have more advanced membrane maturation state than non-sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa, resulting in a decreased fertilizing lifespan in the female reproductive tract. Despite this, the use of sexed ram spermatozoa in a number of physiological states (fresh, liquid, frozen) with several different ARTs is possible in producing significant numbers of offspring of a pre-determined sex. Improved efficiency in both sperm sexing and associated reproductive technologies is required for commercialization to be achieved in the sheep industry.

A fragmentação do DNA espermático é uma das principais causas de infertilidade nos machos. Alterações na integridade do DNA podem ser decorrentes da ação de espécies reativas de oxigênio (EROS), de defeitos na protaminação e da apoptose. A sensibilidade do espermatozoide ovino frente as biotecnologias reprodutivas pode ser resultado de uma alta suscetibilidade a ação de EROS ou alterações na protaminação espermática desencadeadas por estresse oxidativo induzido por estresse térmico, tornando o espermatozoide mais suscetível a fragmentação de DNA. Com o objetivo de entender mais este processo, foi realizado um primeiro experimento para avaliar o status oxidativo, os atributos espermáticos e a expressão gênica de proteínas envolvidas nos processos de protaminação em diferentes níveis de suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica (baixo, médio, alto e altíssimo) em sêmen ovino. Foi observado um aumento da atividade enzimática da glutationa peroxidase e uma diminuição da atividade enzimática da glutationa redutase no plasma seminal no grupo com suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica alta e altíssima. Com relação a catalase, não foi verificado esse aumento, no entanto houve maior imunodetecção desta enzima. Em relação a condição espermática, observou-se um aumento na porcentagem de defeitos totais e lesões nas membranas acrossomal e plasmática, além de porcentagens menores de espermatozoides com baixo potencial de membrana mitocondrial no grupo com maior suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica. Este mesmo grupo também apresentou alta suscetibilidade ao dano da cromatina e aumento do número de cópias do gene da protamina 1 (PRM1) em espermatozoides. O segundo experimento avaliou os atributos de espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado e do epidídimo frente ao estresse térmico induzido por insulação testicular (tratado), assim como as relações com o status antioxidante. Observou-se diminuição da motilidade, vigor, turbilhonamento e aumento na porcentagem de defeitos maiores e menores, e de lesões na membrana acrossomal e plasmática em espermatozoides ejaculados no grupo tratado. Essas diferenças não foram observadas em espermatozoides epididimais. Uma maior atividade enzimática da glutationa peroxidase e da glutationa redutase foi observada no plasma seminal do grupo tratado. Foi verificado uma diminuição de espermatozoides com alto potencial de membrana mitocondrial no grupo tratado, indicando que o metabolismo mitocondrial parece estar envolvido no quadro de estresse oxidativo. Um terceiro estudo foi conduzido para verificar o efeito do estresse térmico na integridade da cromatina espermática, na protaminação do DNA espermático e na ativação de vias apoptóticas em testículo ovino. Em espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado, houve um aumento da porcentagem de células com suscetibilidade a fragmentação da cromatina no grupo tratado; não observado em espermatozoides epididimais. Uma alta porcentagem de espermatozoides com fragmentação de DNA grau III (ensaio COMETA) e aumento do número de cópias de mRNA da proteína de transição 1 (TNP1) em espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado, foi observada no grupo tratado. Já em espermatozoides provenientes do epidídimo, a PRM1 apresentou maior expressão no 30ο dia do ciclo espermático comparado a 7ο dia, enquanto que a TNP1 comportou-se de maneira contrária. Em relação a ativação de vias apoptóticas em testículo ovino, a proteína anti-apoptótica Bax foi imuno-identificada em espermatócitos e a Blc-2 em espermátides, sem diferença entre os grupos. Em conclusão, a alta susceptibidade dos espermatozoides ovinos a peroxidação lipídica altera o status oxidativo ocasionando um quadro de estresse oxidativo, principal causador de dano a cromatina. Adicionalmente, o estresse oxidativo induzido por estresse térmico prejudica os atributos espermáticos e aumenta a suscetibilidade dos espermatozoides a fragmentação de DNA.
Sperm DNA fragmentation is referred as one of the main causes of male\'s infertility. Among the etiologies of abnormalities on DNA integrity the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS), protamination failures and apoptosis are considered the most important. The known sensitivity of ram´s sperm to reproductive biotechnologies could be a result of a higher susceptibility to the action of ROS or changes in sperm protamination triggered by oxidative stress induced by heat stress. This would increase the susceptibility of sperm DNA to fragmentation. Initially, the ram sperm quality, seminal protamine gene expression and oxidative status were evaluated in semen samples of different levels of susceptibility to lipid peroxidation (low, medium, high and very high). There was an increase on glutathione peroxidase and decreased glutathione reductase enzymes' activity in groups with high and very high susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. However, only catalase showed increased immunodetection. An increase on total defects and damaged acrosomal and plasmatic membranes were observed in the group showing the highest susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. Also, the percentage of sperm with low mitochondrial membrane potential, the percentage of sperm susceptible to chromatin damage and the number of copies of protamine 1 (PRM1) mRNA were increased in the group showing higher susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. The second study evaluated sperm\'s attributes from the epididymis and ejaculated sperm subjected to heat stress induced by testicular insulation (treated group), as well as correlations with the antioxidant status. We observed decrease on motility, vigor, and mass motility and increase on the percentages of sperm showing major and minor defects, and damaged plasma and acrosome membranes in the treated group. These differences were not observed in epididymal sperm. Increased enzymatic activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase were observed in the treated group. Mitochondrial metabolism appeared to be involved in the oxidative homeostasis imbalance. This was effectively observed by a decrease on the percentage of sperm with high mitochondrial membrane potential in the treated group. A third study was conducted to determine the effect of heat stress induced by testicular insulation on the integrity of chromatin, protamination and apoptotic activation pathway in ram testis. An increase on the percentage of sperm with susceptibility to chromatin fragmentation in the treated group was observed. However, the previous findings were not observed in epididymal sperm. A higher percentage of sperm showing DNA fragmentation level III (Comet assay) and an increase on the number of copies of transition protein 1(TNP1) mRNA were observed in the treated group. In epididymal sperm, a higher expression of the PMR1 gene was observed on the 30th day of the espermatogenic cycle, while TNP1 behaved contrarily. In the testicular samples, the anti-apoptotic protein Bax was detected only in spermatocytes while Bcl-2 was observed singularly in spermatids, with no difference between groups. In conclusion, the disruption of oxidative homeostasis may be exacerbated by the higher susceptibility of ram\'s sperm to lipid peroxidation, which could be the main etiology of chromatin damage. In addition, oxidative stress induced by heat stress impairs sperm attributes and DNA integrity.

La finalidad del presente estudio fue evaluar en 2 tiempos la calidad espermática de muestras de semen de ovino tratadas por la técnica de gradiente de densidad con respecto a muestras no tratadas. Se utilizó un total de 102 eyaculados de carnero que presentaron en promedio un volumen de 1.12 ± 0.34 ml, color blanquecino, aspecto cremoso, pH de 6.73 ± 0.25, concentración inicial de 3.54 x 109 ± 5.30 x 108 esp/ml y motilidad masal alrededor del grado 4. Posteriormente, cada eyaculado se dividió en un grupo control y experimental de volúmenes iguales. El semen del grupo control fue diluido con Triladyl® y el experimental, tratado con la técnica de gradiente de densidad. La tasa de recuperación espermática después del tratamiento fue del 31.50 ± 10.89%. Se encontró un aumento significativo (p<0.05) en la motilidad individual progresiva, el porcentaje de espermatozoides vivos y de espermatozoides con membrana intacta en las muestras tratadas con respecto al grupo control (92.07 ± 1.81% vs. 85.74 ± 1.75%, 78.42 ± 5.13% vs. 75.19 ± 4.59%, 78.55 ± 4.34% vs. 73.37 ± 4.48%, respectivamente); así como una disminución significativa (p<0.05) en el porcentaje de espermatozoides anormales en las muestras del grupo experimental con respecto al grupo control (8.41 ± 1.33% vs. 9.94 ± 1.73%). El resto de muestras de ambos grupos fue distribuido en pajillas de 0.25 ml y enfriadas hasta alcanzar los 5°C para su refrigeración por 24 horas. Las muestras tratadas con gradiente de densidad presentaron un aumento significativos (p<0.05), con respecto al grupo control, en motilidad individual progresiva, el porcentaje de espermatozoides vivos y el porcentaje de espermatozoides con membrana intacta (86.94 ± 3.14% vs. 82.44 ± 2.26%, 71.24 ± 4.11% vs. 68.82 ± 4.15%, 70.87 ± 3.11% vs. 67.98 ± 4.42%, respectivamente). En conclusión, la técnica de gradiente favoreció la obtención de un mayor número de espermatozoides vivos, de mejor motilidad y con membrana intacta, así como la disminución del número de espermatozoides anormales tanto en muestras frescas como refrigeradas. The purpose of the present study was to assess at 2 evaluation times the sperm quality from ram semen treated with the density gradient technique and to compare it against non-treated ram semen. A total of 102 ejaculates were evaluated. The mean macroscopic parameters were: volume of 1.12 ± 0.34 ml, creamy white color, creamy-dense appearance, pH of 6.73 ± 0.25, initial concentration of 3.54 x 109 ± 5.30 x 108 spz/ml and mass motility around grade 4. Then, each ejaculate was divided into two equal volume groups: the control and experimental group. For the control group, the sample was diluted in Triladyl®. The experimental group was treated with the density gradient technique. The recovery rate after treatment was 31.50 ± 10.89%.The results showed that, at zero hour, samples treated undergo a significant increase (p <0.05), compared with the control group, in individual progressive motility, percentage of living spermatozoa and the percentage of spermatozoa with intact membrane (92.07 ± 1.81% vs. 85.74 ± 1.75%, 78.42 ± 5.13% vs. 75.19 ± 4.59%, 78.55 ± 4.34% vs. 73.37 ± 4.48%, respectively). There was also a significant decrease (p <0.05) in the percentage of abnormal in samples from the experimental group compared to control group spermatozoa (8.41 ± 1.33% vs. 9.94 ± 1.73%). The remaining samples, from both the control and experimental group, were distributed in 0.25 ml straws and cooled to 5°C for 24 hours refrigeration. Then, the samples were evaluated. After 24 hours at 5°C, the samples treated with the density gradient technique showed significantly greater values (p <0.05), compared with the control group, in individual progressive motility, percentage of living spermatozoa and the percentage of spermatozoa with intact membrane (86.94 ± 3.14% vs. 82.44 ± 2.26%, 71.24 ± 4.11% vs. 68.82 ± 4.15%, 70.87 ± 3.11% vs. 67.98 ± 4.42%, respectively). In conclusion, in the present study, the density gradient technique allowed to obtain better a greater number of living spermatozoa with better motility, intact membrane and with lower abnormalities in fresh and refrigerated samples.