The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo effect of the addition of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced glutathione (GSH) to ram semen freezing extender. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were detected between groups regarding total motility (TM), straightness (STR) and wobble (WOB), for which the GSH 7 mM group had lesser TM and better STR than the other groups and the GSH 5 and 7 mM groups had higher wobble values than the control, SOD 25 and 100 U/ml groups. The ultrastructural analysis revealed that the acrosome was better preserved after freezing in the SOD 100 U/ml and GSH 2 and 5 mM (p < 0.05) groups than the other groups, whereas mitochondria in both the control group and the 7 mM GSH group suffered the greatest damage. The plasma membrane remained preserved after freezing, regardless of the group. For in vivo fertilization, the SOD group achieved better results than the GSH group (p > 0.05). It can therefore be concluded that the addition of SOD 100 U/ml and GSH 2 and 5 mM preserves the acrosome integrity of frozen ram spermatozoa, while the addition of SOD 100 U/ml to Tris egg-yolk extender offers protection to the membranes of sperm cells after thawing.

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of trans-resveratrol or quercetin on the ability of goat sperm to withstand being frozen. Six pools of semen obtained from six male goats were processed with different concentrations of resveratrol or quercetin (Experiment 1: 0, 15, 25, 50, 75 or 100µM resveratrol; Experiment 2: 0, 15, 25, 50, 75 or 100µM quercetin) and frozen. After thawing, the semen was evaluated for sperm kinematics, plasma membrane and acrosome integrity, morphology and oxidative stress following 0 and 1h of incubation. Immediately after thawing (0h), wobble (oscillation index) in the groups treated with 100µM of quercetin or resveratrol was lower (P<0.05) than in those treated with 0 and 25µM resveratrol and 0µM quercetin, respectively. After 1h of incubation, the total motility in treatments with 15, 50 and 75µM quercetin, as well as the plasma membrane integrity in all quercetin concentrations were lower (P<0.05) than at 0h. In opposition, the linearity of semen samples treated with 100µM quercetin and the straightness of those treated with 75 and 100µM quercetin were lower (P<0.05) at 0h than at 1h after thawing. Thus, it can be concluded that resveratrol and quercetin at high concentrations (100µM) transiently reduce the wobble of goat sperm submitted to frozen storage, and that quercetin (75 and 100µM) increases the linearity and straightness over time, which can be favorable for fertility.

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RESUMO Prolapso de reto é afecção comum em ovinos de cauda curta. Neste trabalho relata-se a técnica de colopexia para redução de prolapso retal em trinta ovinos da raça

The objective of this study was to investigate the need of seminal plasma removal for short-term cooling of buck semen in soybean lecithin (SL) based extender. Each pool was divided equally, and one half was subjected to centrifugation to remove seminal plasma (SP-), while the other half remained with seminal plasma (SP+). Then, both SP+ and SP-samples were diluted in two SL extenders (extender A = 1% SL; extender B = 2% SL), cooled to 5ºC and stored for 48 hours. The sperm kinetics, evaluated by CASA, and plasma membrane integrity (PMI), acrosomal integrity (ACI) and high mitochondrial membrane potential (HMMP), evaluated by epifluorescence microscopy, were determined within five minutes after reaching 5°C (T0), as well as after 24 (T24) and 48 (T48) hours of storage. Interactions (seminal plasma vs. extender vs. time;) were observed for all variables assessed. Total and progressive motility and other variables of sperm kinetics decreased after 24 hours of cooling in the SP+ group, and after 48 hours of storage, these same variables were lower in SP+/B compared to SP-/B groups. Furthermore, SP+ reduced PMI (extender B, T48), HMMP (A and B extenders, T48) and ACI (extender A, T0) compared to SP-samples. The interactions between seminal plasma and soybean lecithin phospholipids seemed to occur in a time-dependent manner. It was concluded that the removal of seminal plasma improves the quality of goat semen that was cooled in a soybean lecithin-based extender, especially when using 2% soybean lecithin.