Abstract
Oxidative stress is one of the major causes of failure of in vitro storage of boar semen. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are one of the important mediators of oxidative stress during in vitro storage of boar semen. Our study examined the effects of taurine on sperm characteristic and on in vitro developmental embryos during in vitro storage of boar semen for 7 days. Semen was randomly aliquoted into 3 centrifuge tubes and treated with different concentrations of taurine (25-100 mM). The characteristics of boar sperm were analyzed for motility by light microscopy, viability by using a Makler counting chamber and membrane integrity by a hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST). The percentages of motile spermatozoa in taurine groups after 5 days were significantly higher compared to the control. Sperm viability in the control was lower than in taurine groups after 7 days irrespective of different taurine concentration. In the hyoosmotic swelling test (HOST), significantly higher results were obtained in taurine groups after 3 days. Also, the developmental rates of IVM/IVF porcine embryos from semen treated with pyruvate and taurine were significantly increased when compared with the control (p<0.05). These results indicate that supplementation of taurine as an antioxidant in boar semen extender can improve the semen quality.
Highlights
The boar semen used for artificial insemination (AI) is stored at 17-19°C following the addition of an appropriate extender
Exposure of sperm to Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is associated with decreased fertility, and the formation of lipid peroxidation and DNA damage (Aitken et al, 1989; Chen et al, 1997)
The production of lipid peroxidation in sperm due to oxidative stress has been associated with a loss of cell motility (Aitken et al, 1989; Alvarez and Storey, 1994)
Summary
The boar semen used for artificial insemination (AI) is stored at 17-19°C following the addition of an appropriate extender. The research of a selection of boar semen extenders has been focused on storage periods over 5 to 7 days by many researchs (Korniewicz et al, 1992; Alexopoulos et al, 1996; Laforest and Allard, 1996). There are many problems for the exactly assessment of sperm function. The sperm function is altered rapidly for in vitro storage at 17-19°C in pig, one of the greatest factor of failure is reactive oxygen species (ROS, Alexopoulos et al, 1996; Jang et al, 2004). Boar sperm seems to be especially sensitive to ROS damage due to the relative high content of unsaturated fatty acids in the phospholipids of the boar sperm membrane (Alexopoulos et al, 1996). Fluidity is linked to the integrity of the membrane lipids (Stubbs and Smith, 1984) and changes in the lipid composition of the plasma membrane may be associated with the cooling and storage
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