Effect of Coenzyme Q10 as an Antioxidant Added to Semen Extender During Cryopreservation of Buffalo and Cattle Semen

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the influence of supplementing Tris-extender with Coenzyme Q10 (COQ10) as an antioxidant on sperm characteristics of Egyptian buffalo and cattle. This study was carried out at Animal Production Research Station, El-Gemmezah, belonging to Animal Production Research Institute, Egypt. Five sexually mature buffalo (4 y and 400-450 kg) and Friesian (3 y and 350-400 kg) bulls were used in this study. Semen was collected twice weekly for five successive weeks. Only ejaculates with ≥70% mass motility were pooled and diluted at 37°C with Tris-extender containing 0, 20 and 30 μM of CoQ10 in T1, T2 and T3, respectively. Equilibration period was at 5°C for 4 h and semen was packed in 0.25 ml French straws frozen in liquid nitrogen-196 o C. Stored straws were thawed individually at 37°C for 30 s. Semen was evaluated for sperm characteristics including percentages of progressive motility, livability, abnormality, curled tail and acrosomal damage of spermatozoa. Enzymatic activity of AST, ALT and LDH was determined in seminal plasma of post-thawed semen. Results showed that there were no species differences in all sperm characteristics studied, except for increasing (P<0.05) percentage of abnormality and damage acrosome spermatozoa in post-thawed semen of cattle compared with buffalo bulls. All sperm characteristics were improved (P<0.05) by 30 μM COQ10 supplementation T3 in post-diluted, post-equilibrated and post thawed semen as compared to control without supplementation T1 in buffalo and cattle semen. Activity of all enzymes reduced (P<0.05) in seminal plasma of both species. In conclusion, CoQ10, as antioxidant, at a level of 30 μM in Tris-extender is able to enhance most sperm characteristics including mobility, livability, plasma membrane integrity, with decreasing sperm abnormalities and it has strong protective power against acrosomal damage of buffalo and cattle spermatozoa.

Effect of Different Antioxidant Sources Added to Buffalo Semen Extender During Cryopreservation on Freezability and Fertility of Buffalo Spermatozoa

“…Semen with perfect quality can be characterized by the reduction in AST, ALT, and, LDH levels (Taha et al, 2000). Also, it was reported a significant improvement in the quality of post-thawed buffalo semen as affected by different levels of CoQ10 addition (Saeed et al, 2016). The LC stabilizes mitochondrial membranes (Liu et al, 2002) that protect spermatozoa from apoptosis via reducing the oxidative stress, and preserve the cell plasma membrane that maintains AST, ALT and LDH enzymes from leakage out of sperm (Liu et al, 2004).…”

“…The Tris-extenders used were without supplementation (E1), while E2 was supplemented with 0.03 mM CoQ10 (C9538: Sigma Aldrich Co. St. Louis, Mo, USA), E3 with 3.0 mM LC (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany), and E4 with 1.0 mM NAC (A7250: Sigma Aldrich Co. St. Louis, MO, USA). Levels of antioxidant supplementation were chosen according to Saeed et al (2016) and Hussein (2018) in bovine semen.…”

Antioxidants in Fish Sperm and the Potential Role of Melatonin

“…In humans, it is the only lipid-soluble antioxidant synthesized endogenously, it can reduce sperm oxidative stress, inhibit peroxide formation in seminal fluid and increase the overall seminal quality: motility, total sperm count, concentration and morphology [ 46 ]. Although, until now, no one has tested the protective effect of cQ10 in fish sperm during storage, there are few studies assessing its impacts in stallion [ 164 ], buffalo, cattle [ 165 ], and ram [ 166 ] sperm. Short- and long-term storage results seem to be similar with 1 µM cQ10 in stallion and ram sperm, improving spermatozoa quality traits, and reducing apoptotic-like changes and lipid peroxidation [ 164 , 166 ].…”

“…Short- and long-term storage results seem to be similar with 1 µM cQ10 in stallion and ram sperm, improving spermatozoa quality traits, and reducing apoptotic-like changes and lipid peroxidation [ 164 , 166 ]. However, in two different species, cattle and buffalo, the best results were achieved with higher concentration of cQ10 (30 µM) [ 165 ]. The number of mitochondria in fish spermatozoa depends on the species, but are usually few with the capacity to restore ATP consumption after motility activation [ 12 , 167 ].…”

The influence of L‐proline and fulvic acid on oxidative stress and semen quality of buffalo bull semen following cryopreservation

“…According to some studies, antioxidants protect cells against oxidative damage and are also essential for sperm integrity and motility. For this reason, adding antioxidants to buffalo semen is necessary to improve fertilisation capacity and semen quality (Beheshti et al., 2011; Ansari et al., 2012; Saeed et al., 2016; Soleimanzadeh et al., 2020).…”