Antioxidant and Antiapoptotic Effects of a Turraea fischeri Leaf Extract on Cryopreserved Goat Sperm

Abstract

This study evaluated the efficacy of Turraea fischeri leaf extract for maintaining the viability of cryopreserved goat sperm. Ejaculated semen was collected from 5 mature Baladi bucks (50–60 kg, 2–4 years of age) and those samples with mass motility ≥ 70% and sperm concentration ≥ 2.5 × 109/mL were selected, pooled, and divided into 4 aliquots. Each aliquot was diluted in Tris-citric-soybean lecithin extender containing a different concentration of T. fischeri leaf extract (0, 125, 250, or 375 µg/mL). Treated semen samples were cooled to 5 °C, transferred to 0.25-mL French straws, and stored in liquid nitrogen (LN2) at −196 °C. After thawing, membrane integrity was examined by transmission electron microscopy, apoptotic activity by Annexin/propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry, and both enzyme activities and antioxidant capacity by spectroscopic assays. The leaf extract at 375 µg/mL significantly improved semen quality as indicated by enhanced total antioxidant capacity, reduced H2O2 concentration, a greater proportion of structurally intact motile sperm, and concomitant reductions in apoptosis and necrosis. The extract also significantly increased the proportion of sperm with a contiguous plasma membrane and intact acrosome (p < 0.05). Furthermore, LC-MS revealed numerous secondary metabolites in the extract that may contribute to sperm cryopreservation.

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

“…Here, the supplementation of ram semen extenders with BBE enhanced the proportion of viable sperm and reduced that of apoptotic sperm, suggesting that BBE has anti-programmed death properties. This is in agreement with the results obtained for small ruminants using medicinal plants for semen cryopreservation [ 38 , 66 , 67 ]. Treatment of high-fat diet-induced obese male rats with bee bread upregulated testicular antioxidant enzymes and downregulated apoptosis genes [ 68 , 69 ].…”

Beneficial Effect of Proline Supplementation on Goat Spermatozoa Quality during Cryopreservation

“…To maintain sperm quality during the cryopreservation process, it is important to balance the production of ROS and its scavenging. A major strategy for enhancing goat sperm’s resistance to oxidative stress during cryopreservation is the supplementation of exogenous antioxidants in the freezing medium, such as glutathione [ 19 ], green synthesized anionic cupric oxide nanoparticles [ 20 ], Lycium barbarum and Laminaria japonica polysaccharides [ 21 ], turraea fischeri leaf extract [ 22 ], resveratrol and taurine [ 23 ], vitamin E and amino acids [ 24 ], trehalose [ 25 ], myo-inositol and melatonin [ 26 ]. However, most of the exogenous antioxidants are unstable due to oxidation; hence, they lose their anti-oxidative capacity.…”

Quercetin in semen extender improves frozen-thawed spermatozoa quality and in-vivo fertility in crossbred Kamori goats

“…It is involved in neutralizing and suppressing free radical production via interacting with α-tocopherol and eventually declining lipid peroxidation ( 24 ). In other studies, quercetin enhanced TAC contents that improved semen parameters in humans and goats ( 79 , 80 ). Barranco et al ( 81 ) revealed that high contents of TAC in boar seminal plasma were related to sperm survival and fertility and can be used as a marker for predicting fertility.…”