The objective of this study was to establish the optimal conditions for hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test to assess the functional integrity of the membranes of boar fresh or frozen/thawed spermatozoa. When pooled semen sample was incubated for 30 min at 37℃ with different test solution of varied osmolarity, the highest percentage of HOS positive spermatozoa was observed in a 150 mOsmol fructose/Na-citrate solution (33.6%). Incubation time did not affect significantly the score of HOS positive spermatozoa observed in a 150 mOsmol fructose/Na-citrate solution at 37℃, but the osmolarity affected the score of HOS positive spermatozoa under the same condition above. Fresh semen was significantly better than frozen/thawed semen in semen parameters evaluated such as motility, viability, membrane integrity and lipid peroxidation (p<0.05). In the relationships of sperm parameters, motility vs viability, motility vs membrane integrity and viability vs membrane integrity were positively correlated (0.82～0.94) but lipid peroxidation vs other estimated factors was negatively correlated (－0.90～－0.98). Among the evaluation methods, motility vs viability, motility vs membrane integrity and lipid peroxidation vs other estimated factors were significantly correlated (p<0.05). These results of this study indicate that the optimal condition of HOST in boar spermatozoa is a 150 mOsmol fructose/Na-citrate solution for 30 min incubation at 37℃ and HOST can substitute the examination of motility, viability and lipid peroxidation.

Hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST) is used for evaluating the plasma membrane function and fertilizing ability in mammal spermatozoa. However, HOS solutions and experimental conditions have not been determined clearly for assessing canine spermatozoa. This study was conducted to examine the HOS solutions and assay conditions, including incubation time (30 to 120 min), storage temperature (4, 17 and 20℃), semen status (fresh and frozen). Maximum spermatozoal plasma membrane swelling was obtained in an 150 mOsm Na-citrate/Fructose solutions with an incubation time for 45 min. The storage temperature and semen status affected the percentage of HOS positive spermatozoa. The HOS test adapted to canine spermatozoa in this study was simple and highly consistent assay with good repeatability. The optimal condition of HOST in canine spermatozoa is an 150 mOsm Na-citrate/Fructose solutions with an incubation time for 45 min regardless of semen storage temperature and semen status.