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.

Influence of Glutamine Supplementation on Motility and Fertilization Success of Frozen-Thawed Persian Sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) Sperm.

Amino acids have an important biological role for the prevention of cell damage during cryopreservation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of glutamine on post-thaw sperm motility and fertilization success in the Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus). Sperm collected from six fish was cryopreserved in extenders containing different glutamine concentrations (2.5, 5 and 10 mm). Sperm samples diluted at the ratio of 1 : 1 using the extenders were subjected to cryopreservation. After dilution, the sperm suspensions were sucked into 250-µl straws; the straws were placed on the tray, frozen in nitrogen vapour and plunged into liquid nitrogen. Then, sperm were thawed in a water bath at 40°C for 5 s and used for analysis. Our results revealed that an increase in the concentration of glutamine caused a significant increase in the motility percentage, curvilinear velocity (VCL) and also fertilization success in the Persian sturgeon (p < 0.05). Comparing all concentrations of glutamine, the best concentration for sperm motility and fertilization rate was 10 mm. In addition, higher post-thaw motility percentage, VCL, and fertilization and hatching rates were obtained with the extender at the concentration of 10 mm (p < 0.05). The findings of this study showed that glutamine was of greater benefit to Persian sturgeon sperm motility during frozen-thawed process.

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.