Dissaya Srinutiyakorn
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Title: The protective effects of trehalose on osmotic tolerance and quality of equine sperm during cold storage and cryopreservation
Biography
Biography: Dissaya Srinutiyakorn
Abstract
In equine breeding program, subfertility of mares after insemination with frozen-thawed semen remains a major problem. Semen
cryopreservation is the best method to preserve semen with additional benefit to increase remotely genetic distribution. However,
sperm are exposed to extreme changes in temperature and extracellular fluid compositions during cryopreservation which potentially
cause the osmotic stress and membrane instability leading to the damage of sperm. Trehalose, a disaccharide sugar, protects plasma
membrane during dehydration and has been shown as an outstanding cryoprotective capability. Therefore, we aimed at investigating
the osmotic tolerance limits of equine sperm, the protective effects of trehalose on osmotic tolerance and the quality of equine sperm
before and after freezing and thawing. Equine ejaculated semen (n=14) was collected from six stallions. Results showed the average
of motility and plasma membrane integrity of equine sperm were significantly lower in hypo- (150 mOsm/kg) and hyperosmolarity
(450, 600 and 750 mOsm/kg) when compared to iso-osmolarity (300 mOsm/kg). Moreover, these parameters were worsen when
osmolarities were increased. This data indicated that equine sperm had limited osmotic tolerance. Pre-incubation of sperm with 100
mM trehalose improved sperm motility, viability and membrane integrity when exposed to aniosmotic conditoins (450, 600 and 750
mOsm/kg) (P<0.05). These results, therefore, demonstrated that trehalose enhanced osmotic tolerance of equine sperm. In addition,
supplementation of trehalose into semen extender also increased sperm qualities (sperm motility, viability and membrane integrity)
after cooling and cryopreservation when compared with control (no trehalose) (P<0.05). It