Abstract

Antioxidants partially ameliorated the negative effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced during cryopreservation. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of cysteine and a water-soluble vitamin E analogue on the quality of frozen-thawed epididymal cat spermatozoa. Epididymal spermatozoa were collected from eight male cats and divided into three aliquots; these were resuspended with a tris egg yolk extender I (EE-I), or the same extender supplemented with 5 MM DL-Cysteine (EE-C) or with 5 mM of a water-soluble vitamin E analogue (EE-Ve). Prior to the freezing step, sperm suspensions were added to the extender with Equex STM paste (EE-II). Sperm motility, progressive motility, membrane integrity, and acrosome status were evaluated at collection, after cooling, and at 0, 2, 4, and 6 h post-thaw. Sperm DNA integrity was evaluated at 0 and 6 h post-thaw. Relative to the control group, supplementation with vitamin E improved (P < 0.05) post-thaw motility (69.4 +/- 5.6%), progressive motility (3.9 +/- 0.3), and membrane integrity (65.1 +/- 8.1 %) immediately after thawing, whereas cysteine supplementation improved (P < 0.05) post-thaw motility after 2 h of incubation (53.8 +/- 12.2%) and DNA integrity after 6 h (84.1 +/- 4.4%). However, neither antioxidant significantly increased the acrosome integrity of frozen-thawed spermatozoa. In conclusion, cysteine or vitamin E supplementation of tris egg yolk extender improved motility, progressive motility and integrity of the sperm membrane and DNA of frozen-thawed epididymal cat spermatozoa. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords

sperm cryopreservation; oxidative stress; reactive oxygen species; feline

Published in

Theriogenology
2008, volume: 70, number: 2, pages: 233-240
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

Authors' information