Cryopreservation of ram semen in extenders containing soybean lecithin as cryoprotectant and hyaluronic acid as antioxidant.

A soybean lecithin-based extender supplemented with hyaluronic acid (HA) was assayed for effectiveness to improve the quality of frozen-thawed ram semen. HA has not been tested yet in an extender containing soybean lecithin for freezing ram semen. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse the effects of soybean lecithin at 1% or 1.5% along with HA at 0, 0.5 and 1 mg ml(-1) in a Tris-based extender on the motion characteristics, membrane integrity (HOST), viability, GSH peroxidase (GSH-PX) activity, lipid peroxidation and acrosomal status after freezing-thawing. Semen was collected from four Mehraban rams during the breeding season and frozen in the six lecithin×HA extenders. The extender containing 1.5% lecithin supplemented with no HA yielded higher total motility (52.5%±1.6), viability (55.8%±1.6) and membrane integrity (44.5%±1.7), but the effects of the lecithin concentration did not reach signification. Linearity-related parameters, ALH, BCF, lipid peroxidation, GSH-PX activity, morphology and acrosomal status were not affected by the extender composition. In general, adding HA significantly decreased sperm velocity (1 mg ml(-1) HA), total motility (only with 1.5% lecithin), viability (1 mg ml(-1) HA for 1% lecithin; both concentrations for 1.5% lecithin) and membrane integrity. In conclusion, adding HA to the freezing extender supplemented with soybean lecithin failed to improve quality-related variables in ram semen. Increasing the lecithin content could have a positive effect, but further studies are needed.

Performance, carcass traits, muscle fatty acid composition and meat sensory properties of male Mahabadi goat kids fed palm oil, soybean oil or fish oil.

This study examined the effect of palm, soybean or fish oils on the performance, muscle fatty acid composition and meat quality of goat kids. Twenty-four male Mahabadi kids (BW=19.4±1.2 kg) were divided into three groups according to liveweight and randomly allocated to one of three diets. Animals were fed ad libitum for 84 days. Different dietary fat sources had no effect on performance and/or carcass quality attributes. The soybean oil diet decreased 16:0 and 18:0 concentrations and increased 18:2 and 18:3 and the ratio of PUFA/SFA in the muscle compared with other treatments. Fish oil feeding increased 20:5 n-3 and 22:6 n-3 concentrations and decreased the ratio of n-6/n-3 in the muscle. The results demonstrate that the use of fish oil is a nutritional strategy to improve the health claimable long-chain omega-3 fatty acid content and n-6/n-3 ratio in goat meat without changing the sensory properties or colour of meat.

An evaluation of bovine derived xenograft with and without a bioabsorbable collagen membrane in the treatment of mandibular Class II furcation defects.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of applying Bio-Oss, an anorganic bovine bone xenograft (control group) to the combined use of Bio-Oss and Bio-Gide (a bioabsorbable collagen membrane) (test group) in human mandibular Class II furcation defects. METHODS: A total of 18 furcations (8 tests and 10 controls) in 14 patients suffering from chronic periodontitis were treated in this randomized clinical trial. Open vertical and horizontal furcation depths (OVFD and OHFD), vertical and horizontal clinical attachment levels (VCAL, HCAL), probing depth (PD) and free gingival marginal level (GML) were among the clinical parameters measured prior and six months after treatment, at re-entry surgery. The data were analysed by statistical tests while a p value less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: At the surgical re-entry, the mean reduction for OVFD of the control and test groups was 1.9 +/- 1.3 and 2.1 +/- 1.0, and for OHFD 2.1 +/- 0.7 and 2.4 +/- 1.3, respectively. The control and test treatments resulted in significant reductions in PD, VCAL and HCAL measurements at re-entry but there was no statistically significant difference between the two treatments in all soft and hard tissues measurements. CONCLUSIONS: This clinical trial failed to demonstrate the superiority of the combined use of Bio-Gide and Bio-Oss to the use of Bio-Oss alone, although both therapies resulted in significant gains in attachment level and bone fill.