Abstract
This study examined the effect of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on boar semen. Beltsville thawing solution without antibiotics was used to extend ejaculates from 5 boars (4 ejaculates/boar). Semen samples of control group (C) and group with Fe3O4 (Fe; 0.192 mg/mL semen) were incubated under routine boar semen storage temperature (17 °C) for 0.5 h and nanoparticles were removed by a magnetic field. Before and after treatment, aliquots of all groups were cultured using standard microbiological methods. The samples after treatment were stored (17 °C) for 48 h and sperm parameters (computer-assisted sperm analyzer (CASA) variables; morphology; viability; hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST); DNA integrity) were evaluated at storage times 0, 24, 48 h. Semen data were analyzed by a repeated measures mixed model and microbial data with Student’s t-test for paired samples. Regarding CASA parameters, Fe group did not differ from C at any time point. In group C, total motility after 24 h and progressive motility after 48 h of storage decreased significantly compared to 0 h. In group Fe, linearity (LIN) after 48 h and head abnormalities after 24 h of storage increased significantly compared to 0 h. The microbiological results revealed a significant reduction of the bacterial load in group Fe compared to control at both 24 and 48 h. In conclusion, the use of Fe3O4 nanoparticles during semen processing provided a slight anti-microbiological effect with no adverse effects on sperm characteristics.
Highlights
The performance of artificial insemination (AI) is the most acknowledged method worldwide to fertilize sows with liquid-extended boar semen
The antibiotics have been main constituents of semen extenders to control the bacterial growth during the storage time of boar liquid semen
Methods of physically removing bacteria by centrifugation in colloidal solutions [6] and the addition of natural or synthetic peptides with antimicrobial activity to the diluents have been reported in boar semen processing [7,8]
Summary
The performance of artificial insemination (AI) is the most acknowledged method worldwide to fertilize sows with liquid-extended boar semen. Porcine semen usually contains two to three species of bacteria, most commonly Staphylococci, Streptococci and Pseudomonas [4] In this aspect, the antibiotics have been main constituents of semen extenders to control the bacterial growth during the storage time of boar liquid semen. Althouse and Lu [5] found bacterial occurrence in one third of the produced boar sperm doses, with bacteria largely resistant to antibiotics such as amoxycillin, gentamycin, lincomycin and tylosin This fact has led the scientific community to explore alternative strategies to minimize the development of antibiotic resistance. Sahu et al [14] found that nanotoxicity could be dependent on the type of the cell in terms of a different sensitivity response For this reason, our research team was the first to investigate the appropriate effective antibacterial concentration and co-incubation time of silver Ag/Fe and Fe3O4 NPs in semen [15]. The aim of this research was to extend our knowledge regarding an alternative methodology in order to control the microbial load of boar semen without having detrimental effects on its quality, using iron oxide NPs
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