Da. Ohl et al., ELECTROEJACULATION DOES NOT IMPAIR SPERM MOTILITY IN THE BEAGLE DOG -A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF ELECTROEJACULATION AND COLLECTION BY ARTIFICIAL VAGINA, The Journal of urology, 152(3), 1994, pp. 1034-1037
Sperm samples obtained by electroejaculation (EEJ) in men with anejacu
latory infertility have a markedly lower quality than those obtained b
y normal ejaculation. An electrical effect of the EEJ procedure has be
en implicated by some investigators as a direct cause of low sperm qua
lity. To determine whether the EEJ procedure causes direct sperm damag
e, we compared ejaculates obtained from dogs by EEJ and by artificial
vagina (AV). In seven adult beagle dogs, semen was collected weekly, a
lternating between the two procedures. The average (antegrade) sample
from AV had a volume of 2.6 ml., sperm concentration of 150.1 x 10(6)
per ml., total sperm count of 381.7 x 10(6) and motility of 26.3%. The
average antegrade sample from EEJ had a volume of 1.8 ml., a concentr
ation of 129.6 x 10(6) per ml., a total sperm count of 166.8 x 10(6) a
nd a motility of 30.1%. Of these differences only the total sperm coun
ts and the total motile sperm counts were statistically significant (p
< 0.05). There were no significant differences between the antegrade
motilities, total sperm counts (antegrade plus retrograde-381.7 versus
243.4 X 10(6), for AV and EEJ, respectively) or the total motile sper
m counts from the two procedures (103.9 versus 78.0 x 10(6)). There we
re no differences in the average curvilinear velocity (VCL) measured b
y computer-assisted sperm motion analysis (56.9 mu. per second for AV,
47.4 mu. per second for antegrade EEJ specimens and 41.7 mu. per seco
nd for retrograde EEJ specimens). Since routine semen parameters betwe
en artificial vagina and electroejaculation did not differ in dogs, we
conclude that the electroejaculation procedure is not responsible for
the gross semen abnormalities reported in electroejaculation of aneja
culatory men.