1. Quercetin supplemented casein-based extender improves the post-thaw quality of rooster semen
Michael Osei Appiah, Wanlu Li, Jing Zhao, Hongyu Liu, Yangyunyi Dong, Jufu Xiang, Jun Wang, Wenfa Lu Cryobiology. 2020 Jun;94:57-65. doi: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2020.04.010. Epub 2020 May 11.
The advantageous influence of quercetin (Q) supplementation in an extender has not yet been evaluated for rooster semen cryopreservation. This research was purposely conducted in order to assess the effect of different quercetin concentrations added into an extender on the sperm quality of the rooster subsequent to a freezing-thawing process. After the freezing-thawing process, spermatozoa quality parameters (membrane functionality, acrosome integrity, motility, viability, and abnormal morphology), endogenous enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GPx), mitochondrial activity, DNA fragmentation index, lipid peroxidation (MDA), and ROS were all evaluated. A total of 75 neat pooled ejaculates (3 ejaculates/rooster) were collected from 25 arbor acres roosters (24 wks) twice a week using abdominal massage technique, then divided into five equal aliquots and diluted with an extender containing different doses of Q (CS-Q) as follows: casein extender without Q (control only), casein extender containing 0.040 mg/mL quercetin (CS-Q 0.040), 0.020 mg/mL quercetin (CS-Q 0.020), 0.010 mg/mL quercetin (CS-Q 0.010), and 0.005 mg/mL quercetin (CS-Q 0.005). Our results depicted that adding to the extender with a 0.010 mg/mL Q enhanced (P < 0.01) sperm motility, membrane function, viability, mitochondrial activity, intact acrosome (P < 0.05), SOD (P < 0.001), CAT, and GPx (P < 0.01) compared to the control group at post-thaw. Compared to the control group and other treatment groups after the freeze-thawing process, the addition of 0.005 mg/mL Q into the extender also showed higher (P < 0.05) improvement in the quality of sperm parameters and a higher (P < 0.01) SOD and CAT but did not improve mitochondrial activity and sperm viability. In addition, there was a lower degree of DNA fragmentation index, lower (P < 0.05) lipid peroxidation and ROS in frozen-thawed sperm treated with 0.010 mg/mL and 0.005 mg/mL Q than in control and the other treatment groups. In addition, 0.020 mg/mL Q supplementation into the extender also reduced DNA fragmentation and improved GPx activity compared to the control group at post-thaw. Different concentrations of Q 0.010 and 0.005 mg/mL added to the extender reduced the percentage of abnormal spermatozoa compared to the other groups. The results of this study showed for the first time that the inclusion of an extender with a suitable quercetin concentration of 0.010 mg/mL improved the post-thawed quality of rooster semen.
2. Supplementation of l-tryptophan (an aromatic amino acid) in tris citric acid extender enhances post-thaw progressive motility, plasmalemma, mitochondrial membrane potential, acrosome, and DNA integrities, and in vivo fertility rate of buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) bull spermatozoa
Hussain Ahmed, Sarwat Jahan, Ajmal Khan, Lubna Khan, Hizb Ullah, Mehreen Riaz, Kamran Ullah, Farhad Ullah Cryobiology. 2020 Feb 1;92:117-123. doi: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2019.11.044. Epub 2019 Nov 26.
The aromatic amino acid l-tryptophan is an essential and versatile molecule, acts by transferring an electron to free radicals and protects the plasma membrane from injuries. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of l-tryptophan in extender on semen quality parameters, in vitro longevity and in vivo fertility rate of buffalo spermatozoa during cryopreservation. Two ejaculates were collected from each bull (n = 2 ejaculates and n = 4 bulls) with artificial vagina at 42 °C followed by initial evaluation for volume, motility, concentrations and were diluted in five extenders (C = lacking l-tryptophan, D1 = 25 μ M l-tryptophan, D2 = 50 μ M l-tryptophan, D3 = 75 μ M l-tryptophan, and D4 = 100 μ M l-tryptophan) respectively, and cryopreserved. The experiment was repeated four times (n = 4 replicates). At post-dilution, sperm plasma membrane integrity (PMI, %), supravital plasma membrane integrity (SVPMI, %), hypo-resistivity (HR, %) and acrosome integrity (ACR-I, %) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in extender supplemented with D4 than control. At post-thawing, progressive motility (PM, %), PMI, SVPMI, HR, ACR-I, and DNA-I of buffalo bull spermatozoa were significantly higher in D4 than control. Sperm in vitro longevity (%) assessed in terms of PM, SVPMI, and ACR-1 were significantly higher in D4 than control. Sperm mitochondrial membrane potential (%) was higher in treated groups than the control. The in vivo fertility rate was significantly higher in D4 than control (60.17% vs. 44.17%, P < 0.05). It is concluded that the supplementation of l-tryptophan in tris citric acid extender improves semen quality parameters, in vitro longevity and in vivo fertility rate of buffalo spermatozoa during freezing and thawing process.
3. Retained functional integrity of bull spermatozoa after double freezing and thawing using PureSperm density gradient centrifugation
W M C Maxwell, I Parrilla, I Caballero, E Garcia, J Roca, E A Martinez, J M Vazquez, D Rath Reprod Domest Anim. 2007 Oct;42(5):489-94. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0531.2006.00811.x.
The main aim of this study was to compare the motility and functional integrity of bull spermatozoa after single and double freezing and thawing. The viability and morphological integrity of spermatozoa selected by PureSperm density gradient centrifugation after cryopreservation of bovine semen in two commercial extenders (Experiment 1) and the function of bull spermatozoa before and after a second freezing and thawing assisted by PureSperm selection (Experiment 2) were examined. On average, 35.8 +/- 12.1% of sperm loaded onto the PureSperm density gradient were recovered after centrifugation. In Experiment 1, post-thaw motility and acrosome integrity were higher for spermatozoa frozen in Tris-egg yolk extender than in AndroMed, whether the assessments were made immediately after thawing [80.4 +/- 12.7 vs 47.6 +/- 19.0% motile and 78.8 +/- 8.3 vs 50.1 +/- 19.5% normal apical ridge (NAR), p < 0.05] or after preparation on the gradient (83.3 +/- 8.6 vs 69.4 +/- 15.9% motile and 89.5 +/- 7.2 vs 69.1 +/- 11.4% NAR, p < 0.05). For semen frozen in Tris-egg yolk extender, selection on the PureSperm gradient did not influence total motility but significantly improved the proportion of acrosome-intact spermatozoa. After the gradient, both the total motility and percentage of normal acrosomes increased for spermatozoa frozen in AndroMed (Minitüb Tiefenbach, Germany). In Experiment 2, there was no difference in sperm motility after the first and second freeze-thawing (82.9 +/- 12.7 vs 68.8 +/- 18.7%). However, the proportion of acrosome-intact spermatozoa was significantly improved by selection through the PureSperm gradient, whether measured by phase contrast microscopy (78.9 +/- 9.7 vs 90.4 +/- 4.0% NAR, p < 0.05) or flow cytometry (53.4 +/- 11.7 vs 76.3 +/- 6.0% viable acrosome-intact spermatozoa, p < 0.001). The improvement in the percentage of spermatozoa with normal acrosomes was maintained after resuspension in the cooling extender and cooling to 4 degrees C (88.2 +/- 6.2) and after re-freezing and thawing (83.6 +/- 6.56% NAR). However, flow cytometric assessment of the sperm membranes revealed a decline in the percentage of viable spermatozoa with intact membranes after the second freezing and thawing compared with after gradient centrifugation (76.3 +/- 6.0% vs 46.6 +/- 6.6%, p < 0.001) to levels equivalent to those obtained after the first round of freeze-thawing (53.4 +/- 11.7% viable acrosome-intact spermatozoa). Sperm movement characteristics assessed by computer-assisted analysis were unaffected in the population selected on the PureSperm gradients but declined after cooling of the selected and extended spermatozoa to 4 degrees C. There was no further change in these kinematic measurements after the cooled spermatozoa had undergone the second round of freeze-thawing. These results demonstrate that bull semen can be frozen and thawed, followed by a second freeze-thawing cycle of a population of spermatozoa selected by PureSperm, with retained motility and functional integrity. This points to the possibility of using double frozen spermatozoa in bovine artificial insemination programmes and to the potential benefits of PureSperm density gradient centrifugation for the application of cryopreserved bull spermatozoa to other biotechnological procedures such as flow cytometric sex sorting followed by re-freezing and thawing.