MitoQ preserves the quality and fertility of liquid-preserved ram sperm.

Supplementing the semen extender with some antioxidants may preserve sperm quality following liquid preservation. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the influence of the use of MitoQ in the semen extender on quality parameters and fertility of liquid-preserved ram semen. In this study, diluted semen samples were divided into five parts and supplemented with 0, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 nM MitoQ. The prepared samples were stored at 3-5 °C for up to 50 h. Motility, viability, mitochondrial activity, membrane integrity, and malondialdehyde concentration of the chilled sperm were assessed at 0, 25, and 50 h. To evaluate reproductive performance, artificial insemination was performed with semen liquid-preserved for 25 h. In results, at 0 h, no difference between the groups was observed. The use of 10 and 100 nM MitoQ resulted in higher (P ≤ 0.05) total motility, progressive motility, membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, viability, and lower malondialdehyde concentration than the other groups after 25- and 50-h storage. Pregnancy, parturition and lambing rates were higher (P ≤ 0.05) when ewes were inseminated with 25-h chilled semen samples containing 10 and 100 nM MitoQ compared to the control. Therefore, supplementing the semen extender with MitoQ (10 and 100 nM) could be an efficient method to improve the quality and fertility rate of liquid-preserved ram semen.

Dietary omega-3 fatty acids from linseed oil improve quality of post-thaw but not fresh sperm in Holstein bulls.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a member of the n-3 fatty acid family present in fish oil, has several positive effects on bovine sperm, including membrane integrity, motility and viability, as well as cold sensitivity. Our objective was to investigate effects of varying amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from linseed oil, administered orally, on quality of fresh and frozen-thawed bull sperm. Twenty fertile Holstein bulls (874 ± 45.38 kg) were randomly and equally assigned to four groups and received encapsulated (rumen-protected) fats for 12 weeks, as follows: group P, 300 g palm oil; group Pl, 200 g palm oil + 100 g linseed oil; group pL, 100 g palm oil + 200 g linseed oil; and group L, 300 g linseed oil. Sperm quality of fresh and frozen-thawed semen was evaluated by routine assays including sperm motion characteristics (CASA), membrane integrity (eosin-nigrosin), membrane activity (hypo-osmotic swelling test; HOST) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. There were no significant differences among groups in semen volume, sperm concentration or sperm quality parameters in fresh semen. However, after freezing-thawing, total and progressive motility in group P (59.61 ± 1.95 and 40.19 ± 2.48%, respectively; LSM ± SEM) were lower (P < 0.05) than in groups Pl (66.06 ± 1.95 and 47.53 ± 2.48%), pL (65.67 ± 1.95 and 47.48 ± 2.48%) and L (65.36 ± 1.95 and 47.62 ± 2.48)%, with no significant differences among the latter three groups. Furthermore, membrane integrity (eosin-nigrosin) and activity (HOST) were lower (P < 0.05) in group P (55.79 ± 2.15 and 42.19 ± 2.17%) compared to groups Pl (62.73 ± 2.15 and 48.93 ± 2.17%), pL (64.06 ± 2.15 and 50.01 ± 2.17%) and L (64.47 ± 2.15 and 49.68 ± 2.17%), with no significant differences among the latter three. Furthermore, there were more (P < 0.05) morphologically abnormal sperm in group P (25.99 ± 1.62%) than in groups Pl, PL and L (21.55 ± 1.62, 21.69 ± 1.62 and 20.90 ± 1.62%). In conclusion, feeding Holstein bulls 100-300 g linseed oil daily improved sperm cryotolerance.

The Effect of Oral Administration of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Quantitative and Qualitative Properties of Arabic Ram Sperm and Some Antioxidant Parameters of Seminal Plasma in the Non-Breeding Season.

Zinc is an essential mineral and accepted as a trace element in the animal nutrition and for its role in biological enzymatic pathways. This study aimed to investigate the effect of oral administration of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) on some of the antioxidant parameters of semen plasma, quantitative and qualitative properties of Arabic ram sperm in the non-breeding season. Twelve adult Arabic rams (about 3-5 years old, 70 ±2.1 kg) were randomly assigned to receive one of the three levels of dietary ZnONPs (control; 0, group 1; 40 ppm and group 2; 80 ppm). Results showed that using different levels of ZnONPs increased the activity of superoxide dismutase enzyme (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of semen plasma significantly compared with the control group (P<0.05). Motility (74.83%), viability (76.90%), semen volume (1.76 ml) and sperm concentration (1418×106/ml) were significantly (P<0.05) higher in ZnONPs supplemented groups compared with the control group. The sperm morphological abnormalities reduced significantly in treated groups (10.46 and 9.07%) compared with the control group (12.66%; P <0.05). Also, the results suggested that 80 ppm level of ZnONPs increased the functionality of sperm membrane (44.38%) compared with other groups (37 and 35.66%, respectively for groups 1 and control) (P<0.05). Based on the results, using 80 ppm level of ZnONPs lead to an improvement in the activity of superoxide dismutase enzyme (48.62 ml) and total antioxidant capacity of semen plasma (111.88 µg/ml) compared with other groups (P<0.05). In conclusion using 80 ppm level of ZnONPs had a positive effect on the quantitative and qualitative properties of sperm and lead to a significant betterment in the activity of some antioxidant parameters of Arabic ram semen in the non-breeding season.

Effect of melatonin supplementation in the long-term preservation of the sheep ovaries at different temperatures and subsequent in vitro embryo production.

Investigations in the past decades have shown that oocytes developmental competence following in vitro fertilization is greatly influenced by an interval between isolation of the ovaries immediately after death/slaughter and oocytes recovery from the visible follicles. In order to determine the optimal conditions for long-term preservation of ovaries, an experiment was conducted with adding different doses of melatonin (0 (C), 500 (M1), 600 (M2), 700 (M3) and 800 (M4) µM) as an antioxidant to sheep ovaries preservation medium (PBS) maintained at 4 and 20 °C for 24 h. The effects on in vitro embryo production (IVEP) parameters including maturation, fertilization, cleavage, and blastocyst rates and the total number of blastomere were evaluated after the ovaries preservation. Melatonin reduced the decline in fertilization rate as an indicator of success in vitro maturation (P ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, ovarian storage time had significant negative effect (P ≤ 0.05) on IVEP parameters. Supplementation with melatonin increased the total cell number of blastocysts as an indicator of embryo quality (i.e. mean blastomeric cells in 4°C groups: 86.00 ± 3.00, 98.50 ± 3.5, 111.5 ± 1.5, 125.5 ± 2.00 and 126.50 ± 5.5 for C, M1, M2, M3 and M4. respectively). Overall, the results showed that the use of melatonin antioxidant in the ovaries storage medium had beneficial effects on sheep oocytes development and embryos quality.

Dietary n-3 PUFAs improve fresh and post-thaw semen quality in Holstein bulls via alteration of sperm fatty acid composition.

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of fish oil-supplemented diet on fresh and post-thaw semen quality and sperm lipid composition in bulls. Bulls were randomly assigned to two groups (n = 6). Six bulls were used as the control group and six received the fish oil (1.2% dry matter of total diet) for 11 weeks. Semen was individually collected from each bull and frozen biweekly. Semen volume, sperm concentration, viability, progressive motility, and fatty acid profile of sperm were measured in 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th week of experiment. Viability, progressive motility, and fatty acid profile of post-thaw sperm were also measured in 3rd, 5th, 9th, and 11th week of experiment. Data were analyzed with using Proc GLM or MIXED (for repeated measurement data) in SAS program. The fish oil-supplemented diet increased the semen volume and sperm concentration. The fish oil-supplemented diet also altered the viability, progressive motility, and fatty acid profile of fresh and post-thaw sperm. In conclusion, feeding a fish oil-enriched diet via alteration of fatty acid profile of sperm lipid could improve in vitro quality of fresh and post-thaw sperm in Holstein bulls.