Effects of dietary supplementation with an organic source of selenium on characteristics of semen quality and in vitro fertility in boars1

Abstract

Semen characteristics in boars fed organic or inorganic sources of Se were assessed in 3 experiments. Crossbred boars were randomly assigned at weaning to 1 of 3 dietary treatments: I) basal diets with no supplemental Se (control), II) basal diets with 0.3 mg/kg of supplemental Se from an organic source (Sel-Plex, Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, KY), and III) basal diets supplemented with 0.3 mg/kg of supplemental Se from sodium selenite (Premium Selenium 270, North American Nutrition Co. Inc., Lewisburg, OH). For Exp. 1, semen was collected from boars (n = 10/dietary treatment) on 5 consecutive days at 15 mo of age. Effects of treatment × day were detected for the proportions of progressively motile (P = 0.02) and rapidly moving (P = 0.03) spermatozoa, and measures of sperm velocity, including path velocity of the smoothed cell path (P = 0.05) and average velocity measured in a straight line from the beginning to the end of the track (P = 0.05). Negative effects of day of semen collection on sperm motility were least pronounced in boars fed Sel-Plex. Experiment 2 was conducted when boars were 17 mo of age, and semen was collected (n = 10 boars/dietary treatment), diluted in commercially available extenders, and stored at 18°C for 9 d. Effects of treatment × day were detected for percentages of motile (P = 0.01) and static (P = 0.01) spermatozoa, amplitude of lateral head displacement (P = 0.02), frequency with which the sperm track crossed the sperm path (P = 0.04), straightness (P = 0.01), and average size of all sperm heads (P = 0.03). In general, sperm cells from boars fed Sel-Plex were better able to maintain motility during liquid storage compared with boars fed sodium selenite. For Exp. 3, semen was collected from boars (n = 6/dietary treatment) at 23 mo of age, and spermatozoa were evaluated at d 1 and 8 after semen collection using in vitro fertilization procedures. There was a tendency for an effect (P = 0.11) of dietary treatment on fertilization rate with Sel-Plex-fed boars having the greatest value (70.7%). The results of this study suggest that there are positive effects of dietary supplementation with Sel-Plex on boar semen characteristics and that organic Se supplementation may help ameliorate the negative effects of semen storage on characteristics of sperm motility.

Effect of Selenium and Vitamin E Supplementation on Semen Quality in Dogs with Lowered Fertility

“…Similar results were reported for humans (16,25), boars (18,23,24,34), and turkeys (33) after supplementation with selenium and vitamin E. To our knowledge, no studies have been carried out on the influence of oral selenium supplementation on semen quality in the dog.…”

“…Therefore a higher resistance to oxidative stress should be expected when selenium is provided. A positive effect of selenium on sperm concentration and morphology has been also reported by other authors in men (26,32) and various animal species (18,23,24,33,34,37). On the contrary, some studies have reported that there were no positive effects of selenium supplementation on sperm quality either in humans (12,15) or boars (13).…”

“…GPx is present in canine spermatozoa and seminal plasma and plays the main role in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (19,35). Studies on humans (26,32), boars (18,23,24,34), bulls (37), mice (39), and turkeys (33) demonstrated an evident connection between deficiency in selenium and fertility.…”

Effect of selenium, vitamins E and C on antioxidant potential and quality of boar ejaculate

“…Also the results obtained in the present study showed that selenium concentration in the boar ejaculate was higher in the experimental group in comparison to control group after the 90-day feeding period. Also Speight et al (2012) observed the increased sperm motility after addition of 0.3 mg of Se to the diet. Moreover, it was estimated that vitamin E also positively affectes sperm quality reducing the percentage of the abnormal sperm at the dose of 300 and 450 mg · kg -1 (Moraes et al, 2010;Xia et al, 2012).…”

Short Talks (ST)

“…Various management strategies, such as manipulating nutrition of the adult boar, have been used to increase reproductive performance (Estienne et al 2008, Speight et al 2012. While management of the sexually mature animal may influence reproductive performance, it is now evident that management of the boar early-in-life, such as during the suckling period, may have profound effects as well.…”