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Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Abstract

The sensitivity of ram semen to cryobiological procedures has motivated many researchers to investigate this issue. In clinical practice, one of the main objectives is to reduce the damage caused by freezing cells through the addition of preservatives to semen diluents. In our study, fetal calf serum (15% FCS) and 3–6 mM cysteamine were added to ram semen diluents, and their effects on semen after freeze-thawing were investigated. Semen was collected from five Kıvırcık rams using an electroejaculator and combined in equal volumes (pooling). After macroscopic and microscopic examination, the samples were divided into six equal volumes. Six study groups were established by adding 15% FCS, 3 mM cysteamine, 3 mM cysteamine + 15% FCS, 6 mM cysteamine, and 6 mM cysteamine + 15% FCS to the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth aliquots, respectively. The first group was maintained for control purposes. The diluted semen was drawn into 0.25 mL straws after equilibration, frozen at –110 °C, and stored at 196 °C. After equilibration and thawing, semen was evaluated using phase-contrast microscopy, computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA), the hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST), and the Hancock method. Motility decreased, and the number of dead spermatozoa increased in the groups treated with 6 mM cysteamine (Groups 5 and 6), whereas there were no significant changes in spermatozoa motility or morphology in the other groups (control group and Groups 2, 3, and 4). In conclusion, 3 mM cysteamine and FCS (15%) had a statistically significant synergistic effect on spermatozoa motility after equilibration (p < 0.05), yet this effect was not observed after freeze-thawing.

Author ORCID Identifier

ELİF MERVE ÇINAR: 0000-0003-0684-7213

HATİCE ŞENLİKCİ: 0000-0002-9568-2088

ASİYE İZEM SANDAL: 0000-0002-4952-7861

RAMAZAN ARICI: 0000-0002-2236-2526

ÖZEN BANU ÖZDAŞ: 0000-0002-6867-5915

DOI

10.55730/1300-0128.4379

Keywords

Ram sperm, antioxidant, cysteamine, fetal calf serum

First Page

117

Last Page

124

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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