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METHOD OF EUTHANASIA DOES NOT AFFECT SPERM MOTILITY IN THE LABORATORY RAT
Citation:
Slott, V., R. Linder, AND C. Dyer. METHOD OF EUTHANASIA DOES NOT AFFECT SPERM MOTILITY IN THE LABORATORY RAT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-94/541.
Description:
To determine if anesthetic agents used in laboratory animal euthanasia affected sperm motion parameters, rats (n=10) were euthanized by one of 5 different methods: ecapitation alone, or decapitation following either ether, halothane, or nembutal anesthesia, or C02 asphyxiation. perm were collected from the distal cauda epididymis, diluted and videotaped for computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA; HTM-2030, Hamilton-Thorn Research, Beverly, MA). he percentage of motile sperm (MOT), their straight-line velocity (VSL), average path velocity (VAP), curvilinear velocity (VCL) linear index (LINX), and linearity (LIN) were measured on > or equal to 200 motile sperm per sample. o significant differences in any of these 6 motion parameters were found among the treatment groups. hus, none of these 5 methods of euthanasia affect sperm motion as assessed by CASA methods, making them equally suitable for use in reproductive toxicology studies.