author(s)
SN Abedin, V Leela, G Suganya, K Loganathasamy and NK Roy

abstract
The hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST) has been established as a simple reliable technique for determining the functional integrity of sperm membrane. Sperm cells subjected to hypo-osmotic solution generally respond with various degrees of coiling in the tail region. No swelling is evidenced if the sperm membrane is damaged. The percentage of swollen spermatozoa determines the HOS reacted sperms. A total of 20 semen samples from dogs of different breeds coming for breeding soundness evaluation were collected for the present investigation. The fresh semen samples were subjected to HOST with 150 mOsmol/L sodium citrate and fructose solutions. The average values of motility, viability, morphology and HOST in the present study were 76.3%, 69.1%, 63.5% and 67.4% respectively Statistical analysis depicted a highly significant positive correlation (P<0.01) between HOST positive spermatozoa (%) with sperm motility (%), viability (%) and sperm morphology (%). Linear regression model delineated a statistically significant (P<0.001) influence of HOST positive spermatozoa (%) on percent sperm motility, viability and sperm morphology. In conclusion, HOST technique being simple, rapid and practically inexpensive and conducive of determining the fertility potential of a dog can be suitably used for early screening of semen samples.