Effect of age and breeding season on sperm acrosin activity in the arctic fox (Alopex lagopus L.)

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of age and reproductive season on selected properties of semen from the arctic fox, Alopex lagopus L. The experiment used 40 ejaculates collected manually from 6 animals (3 foxes aged one year and 3 foxes older than three years). Statistically less semen (0.39 cm³) was collected from the young compared to the older animals, and the ejaculates obtained were characterized by higher concentration of spermatozoa (195.04 x 10⁶/cm³). In turn, sperm acrosomal extracts from the older animals contained statistically more acrosin (6,4 mU/10⁶ spermatozoa). In the sperm acrosomal extracts prepared during the first semen sampling, the mean acrosin activity did not exceed 2.3 mU/million spermatozoa. At subsequent semen sampling dates, the activity of the analysed enzyme increased to reach 7.72mU/million spermatozoa. In the extracts obtained from the semen collected at the end of the breeding season of arctic foxes, the acrosin activity again reached a value obtained at the beginning of the season.