Influences of bovine serum albumin on fresh and chilled ram sperm motility assessed by computer aided sperm analyser

Abstract

The present work was designed to study the effect of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on the motility characteristics of fresh ram spermatozoa collected at different periods of the year and on their motility status under stress conditions. Moreover, the ability of BSA to replace egg yolk in semen medium was assessed using chilled spermatozoa. Fresh Awassi ram semen samples were collected in April and in June and incubated with two BSA levels (5 mg/mL and 10 mg/mL). Motility parameters of fresh spermatozoa samples treated or not with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), with 5 mg/mL or 10 mg/mLof BSA were compared. The effects of partial and total replacement of egg yolk by 5 mg/mL of BSA on motility characteristics of chilled spermatozoa were assessed by computer-aided sperm analyser (CASA). The addition of BSA significantly increased (P<0.05) the values of CASA parameters in April, while the same values ​​did not significantly changed during June. BSA improved the motility parameters (P<0.05) in the samples treated with H2O2. Replacing a part of egg yolk by BSA enhanced the values of velocity parameters, while the total substitution resulted in a significant decrease (P<0.05) in all CASA motility parameters. It was concluded that BSA had the ability to improve the motility of fresh spermatozoa at certain periods of the year and the motility of spermatozoa under stress conditions. BSA was capable to replace an important part of egg yolk in semen preservation media for the chilled ram spermatozoa.