Effects of Inclusion of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Antioxidants on Spermatozoa Morphology of Potchefstroom Koekoek Cockerels

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effects of increasing dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and antioxidants (Se and vitamin E) on spermatozoa morphology. At 24 weeks of age, Potchefstroom Koekoek cockerels (n = 60) were selected from the base population. Cockerels were randomly allocated into five dietary treatments with 12 cockerels per dietary treatment. The diets consisted of commercial layer diet (CL), commercial cockerel diet (CC), modified layer diet (ML), modified layer diet +PUFA (MLP), and modified layer +PUFA+ antioxidants (MLPA) diet. At 36 weeks of age, six cockerels with ≥ 75% sperm motility rate following analysis by Computer Aided Sperm Analysis (CASA) were selected from the base population in each dietary treatment group. Semen volume, sperm cells concentration and dead cells did not differ significantly among any of the groups. However, live and normal spermatozoa were significantly higher in the MLPA group. The bent mid-piece, bent mid-piece plus droplets, proximal droplets and distal droplets were significantly lower in the MLPA group. From this study it can be concluded that supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants may be of vital importance for normal morphology characteristics of spermatozoa in Potchefstroom Koekoek cockerels.

Sperm fatty acid composition, semen quality, and reproductive performance of roosters fed diets supplemented with n-3 fatty acids and ginger (Zingiber officinale)

“…It is hypothesized that dietary FO may enhance the forward progressive motility of sperm by increasing energy production (Fouad et al, 2020;Kamali Sangani et al, 2017). Despite the beneficial effects of inclusion of dietary FO, some studies have shown that semen quality is declined in diets enriched with PUFA that lack an antioxidant source (Golzar Adabi et al, 2022;Teymouri Zadeh et al, 2020;Hlungwani et al, 2015). In sperm, the presence of high concentrations of PUFAs increases susceptibility to ROS attacks, accordingly, an imbalance between the ROS production and the available defense antioxidants results in lipid peroxidation (Raei et al, a, 2021.…”