Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (12): 4507-4517.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2022.12.036

• RESEARCH NOTES • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Impact of Lycopene on Semen Cryopreservation and Fresh Semen Quality of Qinchuan Bull

WANG Meng, YANG Chaoqun, WU Silin, TAN Jianbing, DU Xinze, LI Zhenxing, ZAN Linsen, YANG Wucai*   

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
  • Received:2022-05-16 Online:2022-12-23 Published:2022-12-25

Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effect of lycopene on the semen cryopreservation and the fresh semen quality, and to provide a basis for lycopene as a new semen diluent additive and dietary additive for breeding males.Fresh semen from 3 healthy Qinchuan bulls aged 3 to 5 years old was collected and cryopreserved with diluents containing lycopene of 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 μmol·L-1, respectively. The motility, acrosome integrity, membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity and antioxidant capacity of sperms were measured by computer-aided analyzer, hypo-osmotic swelling test, peanut lectin fluorescent labeling assay, rhodamine fluorescence assay, and so on. Qinchuan bulls were fed with 15 mg·kg-1 BW lycopene, fresh semen quality and serum antioxidant indexes were detected before and after feeding.The results showed that the supplementation of the semen extender with lycopene produced a higher sperm motility, acrosome integrity, membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, CAT and GSH-Px enzyme activities, resulted in a lower content of MDA in sperm than that of the control, the optimal concentration of lycopene was 2 μmol·L-1 (P<0.05). After 15 mg·kg-1 BW lycopene supplementation in diet, compared with before feeding, the sperm motility of Qinchuan bulls had a significant elevation (P<0.05), the sperm deformity rate significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, CAT and GSH-Px significantly elevated (P<0.05), with the content of MDA significantly decreased in serum (P<0.05). In conclusion, a certain concentration of lycopene had a good protective effect on sperm damage caused by semen cryopreservation and the reproductive performance reduction caused by stress in Qinchuan bull, which might be illustrated by the potential function of lycopene on reducing the oxidative damage of sperm during the freezing-thawing process and improving the antioxidant capacity of the animal body.

Key words: lycopene, bull semen cryopreservation, semen quality, serum antioxidant index, antioxidation

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