Effect of pressure at primary drying of freeze-drying mouse sperm reproduction ability and preservation potential.

Freeze-dried spermatozoa are capable of participating in normal embryonic development after injection into oocytes and thus useful for the maintenance of genetic materials. We recently reported that long-term preservation of freeze-dried mouse spermatozoa by conventional methods requires temperatures lower than -80 degrees C. Successful permanent preservation of mouse spermatozoa at much higher temperatures requires thorough investigation of the freeze-drying procedure. Thus, we examined the relationship between the pressure at primary drying and the preservation potential of freeze-dried mouse spermatozoa. Three different primary drying pressures were applied to evaluate the effect of pressure on freeze-dried spermatozoa under varying storage conditions and the rate of development measured. The developmental rate of embryos to the blastocyst stage from intracytoplasmic sperm injection by freeze-dried spermatozoa at pressures of 0.04, 0.37, and 1.03 mbar without storage were 59% (337/576), 71% (132/187), and 33% (99/302) respectively. When stored at 4 degrees C for 6 months, the rate was 13% (48/367), 50% (73/145), and 36% (66/182) respectively. These results show that primary drying pressure is an influential factor in the long-term preservation of freeze-dried mouse spermatozoa.