Micro-spoon technique in estimation of sperm concentration in rat epididymis

Tohoku J Exp Med. 2000 May;191(1):1-5. doi: 10.1620/tjem.191.1.

Abstract

Several technical procedures were described for estimation of epididymal sperm concentration until today. In all of the described techniques, epididymal material was drawn into a micro-pipette before counting procedure. We aimed to proceed this stage without using any pipette because of the difficulty in aspirating very viscous epididymal material into a micro-pipette. For measuring epididymal material we used a 2 microl reservoir which we named as a micro-spoon. It was filled with the epididymal material and layered in a tube with Ringer's solution of 2 ml containing sodium hyaluronate. Then, it was mixed in order to obtain 1/1000 diluted suspension. Sperm cells in this suspension were counted on a Makler chamber under a light microscope. The procedure was easy and time saving, compared to the other techniques.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Epididymis / cytology
  • Male
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Sperm Count / instrumentation
  • Sperm Count / methods
  • Sperm Count / veterinary*
  • Time Factors