Cysteamine enhances quality and fertility potential of rooster semen in cooled storage.

This study investigated the effects of supplementing Lake extender with cysteamine (CYS) on rooster semen quality in cold storage and it's fertility performance. Semen samples were diluted with Lake extender supplemented with different concentrations of CYS (0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 mM) and were cooled and stored at 5 °C for a period of 46 h. Motility, membrane functionality, viability, lipid peroxidation, and mitochondria membrane potential were evaluated at 0, 23 and 46 h of storage. Fertility was assessed at 23 h of storage. Although at the beginning time (0 h), parameters were not affected, 1 mM of CYS improved (P ≤ 0.05) total motility, progressive motility and mitochondria membrane potential during 23 and 46 h storage. Moreover, 1 and 2 mM CYS improved (P ≤ 0.05) membrane functionality and viability compared to other groups. Lipid peroxidation was lower (P ≤ 0.05) in samples diluted with 1 and 2 mM CYS compared to the others. Artificial insemination with 23-hrs cooled-stored semen produced the higher (P ≤ 0.05) fertility rate in groups received 1 and 2 mM CYS compared to the control group. In conclusion, addition of 1 and 2 mM CYS to the extender could be helpful to protect rooster semen against structural and functional damages of cooling storage process.

Masoudi R ，Esmaeilkhanian S ，Sharafi M ，Abdollahi Z ，Jafari V ，Hatefi A ，Zarei F ，Asadzadeh N ，Sadeghipanah A ，Barfourooshi HJ ，Banabazi MH ... -  《-》

Improvement of rooster semen quality using coenzyme Q10 during cooling storage in the Lake extender.

Sensitivity of rooster semen to stressful condition of cooling restricts the semen storage in commercial flocks for artificial insemination. This study was accomplished to investigate the effect of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) addition to the Lake extender during chilled-storage on the parameters of sperm quality and fertility performance. Roosters' pooled semen samples were assigned into equal parts and diluted with Lake extender supplemented with different concentrations of CoQ10 (0, 1, 2, 5 and 10 μM CoQ10). Then, semen samples were cooled to 5 °C and stored over 48 h. Total and progressive motilities, abnormal morphology, viability, membrane functionality, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and mitochondria active potential of diluted sperm were evaluated at 0, 24 and 48 h of cooling storage. Fertility performance of cooled stored semen was examined at 24 h of cooling storage. Although CoQ10 did not affect sperm quality at the starting time of cooling storage (0 h), extender supplementation with 5 μM of CoQ10 showed higher (P ≤ 0.05) sperm total and progressive motilities, membrane functionality, viability and mitochondria active potential at 24 h as well as total motility, viability and membrane functionality at 48 h in contrast with other groups. Moreover, lipid peroxidation was lower (P ≤ 0.05) in semen samples diluted with 5 μM CoQ10 at 24 and 48 h compared to others. After artificial insemination with 24 h chilled-stored sperm, fertility efficiency was higher (P ≤ 0.05) in treatments contained 5 μM CoQ10 compared to the control group. According to the results, using optimum dose of CoQ10 could be helpful to save rooster semen against chilled storage structural and functional damages.

Masoudi R ，Sharafi M ，Pourazadi L 《-》

L-carnitine is a survival factor for chilled storage of rooster semen for a long time.

Rooster sperm is sensitive to cooling, which restricts procedures to store sperms for extended periods of time for artificial insemination of commercial flocks. This study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of adding L-carnitine (LC) to chilled-storage of rooster sperm and its effects on sperm quality parameters and its fertility potential during storage at 5 °C. Pooled semen from roosters were divided into six equal aliquots and diluted with media supplemented with different concentrations of LC (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 mM LC). Diluted semen samples were cooled to 5 °C and stored over 48 h. Motility, viability, membrane functionality, lipid peroxidation and mitochondria activity of the sperm were assessed at 0, 24 and 48 h of storage. Moreover, fertility potential of chilled stored sperm was considered at 24 h of storage. While sperm quality was not affected by LC at the beginning of storage (0 h), supplementation of extender with 1 and 2 mM of LC significantly improved the percentage of sperm motility, viability, membrane integrity and mitochondria activity at 24 h and 48 h compared to other groups. Lipid peroxidation was significantly reduced in sperm samples diluted with 1 and 2 mM LC at 24 h (2.15 ± 0.52 nmol/ml and 2.21 ± 0.52 nmol/ml) and 48 h (3.42 ± 0.49 nmol/ml and 3.38 ± 0.49 nmol/ml) compared to other groups. Furthermore, fertility rates during artificial insemination using sperms cooled for 24 h in the presence of 1 and 2 mM LC were significantly higher (78%) than in the control group (64%). These findings suggest that optimum doses of LC could protect rooster sperm against cool storage-induced functional and structural damages.

Fattah A ，Sharafi M ，Masoudi R ，Shahverdi A ，Esmaeili V ... -  《-》

The mitochondria-targeted antioxidant Mito-TEMPO conserves rooster's cooled semen quality and fertility potential.

The PUFAs content of rooster sperm cells makes them vulnerable to the thermal shocks during chilling storage, which reduces the fertility performance of cooled sperm. Extender supplementation with antioxidants is a reasonable method to conserve sperm fertility potential during cooling storage process. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Mito-TEMPO addition to the Lake medium on rooster sperm quality and fertility potential during cooling process. Semen samples were diluted in the Lake medium and assigned into five equal aliquots and supplemented with 0, 0.5, 5, 50 and 500 μM Mito-TEMPO. Then, the samples were cooled at 5 °C and conserved up to 50 h. Total motility, progressive motility, morphology, viability, membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation and mitochondrial activity of samples were analyzed during 0, 25 and 50 h of cooling period. Artificial insemination was also conducted using 25 h-cooled semen. No significant difference was observed among different treatments during quality evaluations at 0 h storage. Extender supplementation with 5 and 50 μM Mito-TEMPO presented greater (P ≤ 0.05) total motility, progressive motility, viability, membrane integrity and lower lipid peroxidation compared to other groups during 25 and 50 h cooling storage. Mitochondrial activity was higher (P ≤ 0.05) in groups received 5, 50 and 500 μM Mito-TEMPO than others. Fertility rate of 25 h-cooled-stored samples was higher (P ≤ 0.05) in groups containing 5 and 50 μM Mito-TEMPO compared to control group. In conclusion, addition of 5 and 50 μM Mito-TEMPO as a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant to the storage medium could be a suitable method to conserve rooster semen quality against stressful conditions of cooling storage process.

Masoudi R ，Asadzadeh N ，Sharafi M 《-》

Supplementation of sperm cooling medium with Zinc and Zinc oxide nanoparticles preserves rooster sperm quality and fertility potential.

Supplementation of sperm cooling medium with helpful additives is a reasonable method to conserve sperm fertility potential during cooling storage process. This study was aimed to determine the effect of sperm cooling medium supplementation with Zinc and Zinc oxide nanoparticles (NZn and NZnO) on rooster semen quality and fertility efficiency during storage periods. Semen samples were diluted in the Lake medium and assigned into five equal aliquots. The first was Control group and the other groups received 50 μg/ml NZn, 50 μg/ml NZnO, 100 μg/ml NZn and 100 μg/ml NZnO. Then, the samples were cooled at 5 °C and conserved up to 45 h. Total motility, progressive motility, mitochondrial activity, viability, membrane integrity and lipid peroxidation of samples were analyzed during 0, 22 and 45 h post-cooling. Artificial insemination was also performed using 22- hrs cooled semen. No difference was found among groups during quality evaluations at 0 h storage. Extender supplementation with 100 μg/ml NZn and NZnO presented higher (P ≤ 0.05) total motility, progressive motility, mitochondrial activity, viability, membrane integrity and lower lipid peroxidation compared to other groups during 22 and 45 h cooling storage. Fertility rate of 22-h cooled-stored semen samples was higher (P ≤ 0.05) in groups contained 100 μg/ml NZn and NZnO compared to the Control group. In conclusion, addition of 100 μg/ml NZn and NZnO to the sperm storage medium could be introduced as an effective method to preserve rooster semen quality during cooling storage period.

Khodaei-Motlagh M ，Masoudi R ，Karimi-Sabet MJ ，Hatefi A ... -  《-》