The Effect of Sulfonamides upon the Livability of Spermatozoa and upon the Control of Bacteria in Diluted Bull Semen

Summary and Conclusions 1.Twelve sulfonamides were added to bull semen diluted with citrate-phosphate and stored at 20° C. At the level of each drug determined to be optimum for spermatozoan survival, nine of the 12 drugs increased the livability of the spermatozoa over that observed when no sulfonamide was added to the diluent. Of these nine, only two sulfonamides, sodium sulfamethazine and earboxysulfathiazole, were significantly superior to sulfanilamide in maintaining motility of the sperm cells, but they were inferior in controlling bacterial growth. Sulfanilmide slightly decreased the rate of motility, and N 1 -benzoylsulfanilamide exerted a similar but more pronounced effect. No consistent pattern was established by the other sulfonamides. 2.At 20 and at 37.5° C. all of the sulfonamides were effective in reducing bacterial growth at levels which were not harmful to the spermatozoa. Pseudomonas pyocyaneus was not inhibited at these levels. 3.At 5° C. the sulfonamides were only slightly effective in controlling bacterial growth because the pseudomonas group of organisms predominated in the bacterial flora surviving at this temperature.