Motility and oxidative-antioxidant capacity of Huso huso semen, stored at -80°C.

In this study, motility and oxidative-antioxidant capacity (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance level [TBARS], superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase [CAT] and glutathione reductase [GR]) of beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) sperm, stored for 6 days at -80°C, were evaluated. After 2 days of storage, sperm motility was significantly decreased (no motile sperm were observed after 6 days of storage; p < .05), while TBARS and SOD values were significantly increased (p < .05). CAT and GR activities did not show significant changes among storage times (p > .05). Furthermore, all investigated parameters showed a significant difference between semen stored at 4°C (control) and -80°C during in vitro storage (p < .05). Data from this work can potentially be useful in sturgeon sperm cryobanking.

Determination of some blood and seminal plasma ions in the beluga, Huso huso (Linnaeus, 1758).

Blood and seminal plasma ionic parameters are essential for monitoring health status, detecting illnesses, fish stock conservation and development of artificial propagation methods via extender improvement. In this study, comparison of blood and seminal plasma ionic parameters in beluga, Huso huso (30-45 kg, 1-2 m, n = 10), was made. The results obtained show that Na(+) (82.54 ± 5.46), Cl(-) (15.95 ± 0.72) and K(+) (3.57 ± 0.15) were predominant ions in the seminal plasma (as mM). Blood ionic values (as mM) were determined for Na(+) (110.2 ± 1.26), K(+) (3.77 ± 0.081), Cl(-) (60.12 ± 1.5), Ca(2+) (2.05 ± 0.35) and Mg(2+) (1.9 ± 0.16). Results of the comparison between ionic parameters of seminal and blood plasma indicated that the concentrations of all parameters of blood plasma with the exception of K(+) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those of seminal plasma.