The Supplementation of Bee Bread Methanolic Extract to Egg Yolk or Soybean Lecithin Extenders Can Improve the Quality of Cryopreserved Ram Semen

Abstract

Bee bread has numerous nutritional benefits and bioactive compounds. Other bee byproducts have been used as extender additives to improve semen cryopreservation. Here, we examined the effects of supplementing egg yolk extender (EYE) or soybean lecithin extender (SBLE) with bee bread extract (BBE) on the quality of cryopreserved ram semen. Semen was collected from five adult Rahmani rams once a week for 7 weeks. EYE and SBLE were supplemented with BBE. Antioxidant capacity and total phenolic compound, total flavonoid compound, and total soluble carbohydrate levels of BBE were measured. Sperm characteristics, including progressive motility, viability, abnormalities, membrane integrity, and acrosome integrity, were analyzed after equilibration, thawing, and thawing followed by a 2-h incubation. The total antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, and total acid phosphatase levels in extenders were determined after thawing. Sperm apoptosis was analyzed using annexin V assays. SBLE was more effective than EYE for cryopreserving ram semen. Extender supplementation with BBE improved ram semen quality during freezing in a concentration-dependent pattern. Motility, vitality, and membrane integrity were particularly enhanced in BBE-treated semen. Additionally, BBE promoted antioxidant and enzymatic activities and reduced apoptosis in semen. Thus, extender supplementation with BBE improved sperm cryopreservation.

Influence of Technological Stages of Preparation of Rooster Semen for Short-Term and Long-Term Storage on Its Quality Characteristics

“…The negative impact of oxidative stress on semen can be reduced by introducing external natural antioxidants in the diet of males [ 34 , 35 ] or by introducing them into the composition of synthetic cryoprotective media for the semen [ 15 , 36 ]. The present study shows the role of intracellular antioxidants that contribute to the preservation of cellular integrity and functionality during storage as well as freezing/thawing.…”

Recent approaches in the use of antioxidants and proteomic modifications in ram semen preservation

“…It also resulted in reduced MDA and lowered enzyme activity, thereby improving the properties of ram semen stored at 5°C. In a more recent study, Sharaf et al (2022) discovered that adding bee bread extract (250, 500, 750, and 1000 μg/mL) to the ram semen extender improved considerably the total antioxidant capacity. Furthermore, this addition led to reduced MDA, H 2 O 2 , and enzymes, resulting in improved motility, viability, membrane integrity, abnormality, and acrosome integrity upon thawing.…”

Influence of nano‐formulations of clove bud (Syzygium aromaticum) extract on freezing ability, antioxidant capacity, caspase‐3 activity, acrosome reaction and fertility of frozen rabbit semen

“…Male reproductive potential is diminished by alterations in intact DNA, lipid peroxidation, free radicals, capacitation (Peris-Frau et al, 2020) and the acrosome reaction in sperm cells during cryopreservation (Khalil et al, 2019;Pinto et al, 2020). Using nanoparticles to mitigate the destructive effects of ROS has been performed by number of remarkable studies with worthy results (Abdelnour et al, 2023;Baghshahi et al, 2014;Ismail et al, 2020;Najafi et al, 2020;Sharaf et al, 2022;Sobeh et al, 2020). These reports were used various natural antioxidants in native form or formulations as nanoparticles.…”