Design and “in vivo” evaluation of two adapted catheters for intrauterine transcervical insemination in sheep

In order to obtain better fertility, we evaluated two ovine artificial insemination (AI) catheters that were manufactured according to the anatomical structure of the ewe cervix. Morphometric data of the cervix in Churra and Assaf breeds were used to design two types of curved catheters: CAT06 with one curvature and ZIGZAG with five curvatures in a zigzag shape. Two commercial catheters (IMV® and Minitüb®) were used as controls. In experiment 1, cervical penetration and the degree of reflux were measured in a Cervical AI simulated assay both Churra (n = 28) and Assaf ewes (n = 28). In experiment 2, a fertility study was performed with three catheters (only one commercial control catheter - IMV) in 465 inseminations (Assaf); and a second study analyzed only the top two catheters (IMV and CAT06) in 428 inseminations (210 Assaf and 218 Churra). The ewes were synchronized using intravaginal sponges (40 FGA mg during 14 days) and 500 IU of eCG. Deeper penetration of the cervix was obtained with the new catheters compared with the commercial ones (1.5, 1.3, 3.5 and 3.2 cm for the IMV, Minitüb, CAT06 and ZIGZAG catheters, respectively). The cervical penetration and the reflux grade of each catheter showed no differences between breeds. In experiment 2, the degree of penetration had no correlation with fertility of different catheters. The best percentage of lambing ewes was obtained with the IMV and CAT06 catheters (39.5 and 48.1%, respectively. vs 27.2% for ZIGZAG catheter, in the Assaf breed). Regarding effect of breed, Assaf (39.3% and 49.5 for IMV and CAT06, respectively) showed better lambing rates than Churra (29.0% and 39.0%, respectively), and the CAT06 catheter showed significantly higher rates for each breed.