Electroejaculated baboon (Papio anubis) sperm requires a higher dosage of pentoxifylline to enhance motility

Purpose: Sperm collected by electroejaculation often show poor motility: Th e objective was to determine whether the addition of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor pentoxifylline, would stimulate electroejaculated baboon sperm mo tility. Methods: Electroejaculation was performed on several occasions on a male ba boon and sperm collected after familiarization. Pentoxifylline was tested a t the standard concentration (I mg/ml) and at twice the concentration. Sper m parameters were evaluated using a sperm motility analyzer as well as acro some and DNA integrity techniques. Results: Sperm exposed to 2 mg/ml pentoxifylline had higher total motility when compared with the control and I mg/ml treatment. Rapid progression and velocities were higher after pentoxifylline. The acridine orange DNA norma lity test showed that over 90% of collected sperm had intact unfragmented D NA. About half the sperm population had normal morphology and intact acroso mes. A low percentage had cytoplasmic droplets. Conclusions: Sperm collected by rectal probe electroejaculation required a higher concentration (2 mg/ml) of pentoxifylline for enhanced total motilit y, rapid progression, and higher velocity. This suggested differences in me mbrane properties or phosphodisterase activity in electrojeaculated sperm. The electroejaculation procedure did not denature sperm DNA at the acridine orange assay level nor were the acrosomes disrupted The present study also documented unique information on baboon kinematic parameters.