MOTILITY OF RAM SPERMATOZOA DURING STORAGE IN A CHEMICALLY-DEFINED DILUENT CONTAINING ANTIOXIDANTS

The effects of five antioxidants-Vitamin E (VE), butylated hydroxyanis ole (BHA), n-propyl gallate (n-PG), deferoxamine mesylate (Desferal) a nd catalase (EC 1.11.1.6)-on the maintenance of motility of ram sperma tozoa in a chemically-defined ram semen diluent (RSD-1) have been eval uated. VE, n-PG and Desferal inhibited spermatozoal motility. The rela tive inhibition (i.e., ratio of change in % motility over 24 h between the treatment group and the corresponding control) at equimolar conce ntrations (100 mu M) of Desferal, VE and n-PG were 1.6, 1.8 and 3.6 re spectively. BHA had no effect at 10 mu M but at lower concentrations, gave a slight improvement in motility in freshly diluted spermatozoal samples and in those stored for 1 day at 15 degrees C. The addition of catalase to RSD-1 was also ineffective in improving the motility of s permatozoa. The lack of beneficial effects of the tested antioxidants suggests that RSD-1 itself may destroy reactive oxygen species and the antioxidant activity of RSD-1 components requires further study. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.