Effect of addition of melatonin on liquid storage of ram semen at 4°C

Abstract

Adding a certain amount of antioxidants to semen extender has been shown to improve semen quality. The aim of present study was to elucidate whether the supplementation of melatonin to the Tris-based extender (CTR) could enhance the quality of ram spermatozoa during storage at 4°C. Ram semen samples were collected and diluted with CTR extender containing different concentrations (0, 0.05 (M 0.05), 0.1 (M 0.1), 0.2 (M 0.2) or 0.4 (M 0.4) mM) of melatonin. Sperm routine indicators, mitochondrial activity, total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were analysed in control and melatonin treatment groups. The higher per cent of motility, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity and T-AOC activity was observed in M 0.05, M 0.1 and M 0.2 groups compared to control group at 5 days of storage (p < 0.05), while lower percentage of MDA content was observed among these groups (p < 0.05). In addition, there were no significant differences in acrosome integrity among the control and M 0.05, M 0.1 and M 0.2 groups during the experiment. The above results show that the addition of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 mM of melatonin is beneficial to the preservation of ram semen during liquid storage at 4°C mainly through antioxidative stress. K E Y W O R D S antioxidant, melatonin, Ram, semen storage How to cite this article: Dai G-C, Meng Y, Zhang L, et al. Effect of addition of melatonin on liquid storage of ram semen at 4°C.

Melatonin can improve viability and functional integrity of cooled and frozen/thawed rabbit spermatozoa

“…ROS can induce axonemal and mitochondrial disruption resulting in the immobilization of sperm (Aitken & Clarkson, 1987). Our results suggest that melatonin may exert a protective effect on mitochondria membranes, which could be why the improvement in sperm motility in melatonin supplement groups has been reported (Dai et al., 2019; Jang et al., 2010). Normal sperm morphology is also correlated with stabilizing mitochondria membranes in cooled and frozen/thawed spermatozoa (Carretero et al., 2009; Garcia et al., 1999).…”

“…Improvement in viability and plasma membrane integrity in 1.0 mM melatonin‐supplemented groups reported in cooled and frozen/thawed semen confirms the role of melatonin in protecting rabbit spermatozoa against oxidative stress. Similar positive effects of melatonin on frozen/thawed sperm viability and membrane integrity have been demonstrated in frozen/thawed bull and rabbit spermatozoa (Ashrafi et al., 2013; Zhu et al., 2019), and cooled ram semen (Dai et al., 2019).…”

“…Similar to our findings, previous studies showed that the addition of melatonin to freezing extenders enhanced sperm motility in humans (du Plessis et al., 2010), bulls (Ashrafi et al., 2013), boars (Jang et al., 2010), stallions (Izadpanah et al., 2015), rams (Succu et al., 2011), mice (Chen et al., 2016) and rabbits (Zhu et al., 2019). Also, the supplementation of ram semen extender with melatonin improved sperm motility during 5 days of liquid storage at 4°C (Dai et al., 2019). These findings assure the ability of melatonin to protect sperm functions during cooling and freezing.…”

Liquid Storage of Ram Semen: Associated Damages and Improvement

“…Inclusion of melatonin (0.1, 1, 3 mM) in a Tris-based extender during storage of ram semen at 5˚C up to 48 h improved sperm motility parameters except for head displacement and sperm track straightness [111]. A more detailed study, reported beneficial effects of inclusion of melatonin (0.05 -0.4 mM) in motility, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity and total antioxidant activity during a 5-days cooled storage of ram semen at 4˚C, 0.1 mM melatonin being the optimal concentration [112].…”

Assisted reproductive techniques in wisents: Achievements and further challenges

“…Successful attempts to cryopreserve semen with media enriched with a complex of cyclodextrin and cholesterol were made in Bison bison athabascae, the effectiveness of which was confirmed in vitro and in vivo (71). Considerable attention is also given to other semen additions, such as sericin (2), caffeine (61), melatonin (12) and antioxidants, such as vitamin C or polyphenols (70), which have not been tested in wisents.…”