The addition of crocin in the freezing medium extender improves post‐thaw semen quality

Abstract

Semen cryopreservation is arguably the most important method or technique contributing to the advancement of modern animal production. However, the quality of sperm after thawing is still highly variable. The addition of antioxidant compounds to the freezing medium has been used customarily to counteract the harmful effects of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) that are produced during the freeze/thaw process.Crocin, a potent antioxidant, improves the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa. In this study, we evaluated the potential of crocin (0, 0.5 and 1 mM) as an extender additive to diminish the damaging effects of cryopreservation on bovine spermatozoa. Postthaw semen quality was assessed by means of motility, viability and lipid peroxidation (LPO). We further investigated the effect of crocin supplementation upon freezing on sperm quality parameters during their incubation at 37°C for up to 2 hr. Overall, the

Rapid thawing of frozen bull spermatozoa by transient exposure to 70 °C improves the viability, motility and mitochondrial health

“…A computer-assisted sperm analysis system with 60 digital images per second (Sperm Motility Analysis System, Digital Image Technology, Tokyo, Japan) was used to determine percentages of the total, progressive and rapid progressive motile spermatozoa (%), and kinetic parameters (Ogata et al, 2022;Sapanidou et al, 2022), such as the velocity straight line (VSL), velocity curved line (VCL), velocity average path (VAP), amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH), and beat cross frequency (BCF). The set-up of the system used for conventional motion characteristics of bull semen was according to the manufacturer's guidelines basically based on the WHO criteria (World Health Organization, 1999 previously described in more specifications for bull semen (Gürler et al, 2016;Bulkeley et al, 2021) (Spermvision standard bulls, average orientation change <2.5, straightness <0.5, linearity <0.35, distance straight line <4.5, distance average path/radius ≥3 and linearity <0.5).…”

Melatonin Protects Bovine Spermatozoa by Reinforcing Their Antioxidant Defenses

“…Thus, the intracellular antioxidant defenses of spermatozoa are depleted by the overload of ROS produced during their preparation for ART and the cells endure oxidative stress (OS), manifested as lipid peroxidation (LPO), DNA damage and apoptosis [6][7][8]. To prevent this, researchers have employed supplementation of antioxidants in the sperm preparation media to preserve the fertilizing ability of spermatozoa during these processes and to improve male reproductive performance [9][10][11][12][13]. The role of antioxidants in male reproductive physiology has been investigated in vivo, through oral supplementation, or in vitro, by supplementation of culture media [12,14].…”

“…The addition of natural or synthetic antioxidants in the medium of spermatozoa is an effective approach to preventing OS and thus counteract the negative effects of ROS on spermatozoa during ART [41][42][43]. We have previously shown the ameliorative effects of crocin and crocetin on post-thawing spermatozoa [11,13,44], while melatonin has a proven biological role in reproductive processes by acting either as an antioxidant or as a ligand for the melatonin receptors [18,20,30]. The aim of the present study was to investigate if supplementation of melatonin in the sperm preparation media can preserve the quality characteristics of spermatozoa over time after thawing.…”