Abstract
While trying to develop a suitable technic for artificial insemination of rabbits, the intraperitoneal route offered itself as a possibility. The rabbit is a conveniently suited animal for this type of work, since ovulation takes place 10 hours after insemination (5). To check feasibility of the technic some rabbits were administered one cc India ink into the peritoneal cavity. This mostly disappeared after one hour and substantial amounts were recovered in the oviducts.
Technics. In this pilot study started in 1957, doe rabbits were mated to vasectomised bucks and 1 to 12 hours after mating they were inseminated through the linea alba with freshly ejaculated rabbit semen. The semen was collected from suitably trained bucks with the help of an artificial vagina, which in turn is a modification of Macirone-Walton's (6) old model. The semen, after having been tested for motility, was either injected immediately, or was treated in one of 3 different ways. (1) Diluted to double its amount, (2) centrifuged, the supernatant fluid discarded and the semen resuspended in 1 cc sodium citrate buffer at pH 7.4, or (3) the resuspended semen was centrifuged again and after discarding this supernatant, newly resuspended in 1 cc citrate buffer (2x washed). Only semen which had shown good motility was used. The procedure adopted was: To suspend females by their hind legs and inject the semen approximately 5 inches cranial to pelvic inlet through the linea alba. A 2-inch 14 gage hypodermic needle was used. To evaluate the result, the females were sacrificed one week to 10 days after insemination. This abdominal insemination has been performed on 30 animals.
Results. No fertilization occurred in animals which were inseminated with once washed sperms.
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