Freezability of Goat Epididymal Sperm using Aloe vera Extract and Trehalose in Diluents

Abstract

Background: Cryopreservation process causes oxidative stress on sperm membranes, which in turn damages sperm organs and enzymatic activities which thereby decrease motility, functional membrane integrity and sperm fertility. Therefore, current study carried out to evaluate the effect of Aloe vera Ethanolic Extract (AEE), alone and with trehalose in diluents on cryopreserved epididymal goat sperm. Methodology: Epididymal sperm isolated from testes with motility >70% and total morphological abnormalities <10%. The experimental treatments consist of control (no additives) and basic diluents plus 5, 10, 20 or 50 μg/ml of AEE (AEE1, AEE2, AEE3 and AEE4, respectively), tr (150 mM trehalose), tr+AEE1, tr+AEE2, tr+AEE3 and tr+AEE4. Results: Obtained data show that the extender containing AEE3, AEE1+tr, AEE2+tr and AEE3+tr improved significantly the cryopreserved sperm. The combined treatments indicate also a decrease in MDA than control. In addition, AEE2+tr and AEE3+tr showed the lowest (P<0.05) DNA fragmentation compared to the other treatments. Extender containing AEE3+tr resulted in higher total motility and viability than the extender containing tr alone, as well as AEE1, AEE2 and AEE4 treatments. Conclusion: The present study indicates that ethanolic extract of Aloe vera could be used for goat sperm cryopreservation. Also, it can be concluded that trehalose in combination with 20 μg/ml of Aloe vera extract can be promised cryoprotectant in goat epididymal sperm freezing.