Protective effect of rosiglitazone on microscopic and oxidative stress parameters of ram sperm after freeze-thawing.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of rosiglitazone on ram semen after cryopreservation on the quality of thawed sperm. Sperm motility, membrane functionality, viability, total abnormality, acrosome membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, reactive oxygen species production, ATP content and apoptotic features were assessed after thawing. Rosiglitazone at concentration of 60 µM resulted in the highest (P < 0.05) total motility, progressive motility and straight-line velocity. The percentages of average path velocity and curvilinear velocity were greater in the 60 µM group. Different concentrations of rosiglitazone did not have significant effects on amplitude of the lateral head displacement, linearity and straightness. The highest amounts of membrane functionality and mitochondrial activity after freeze-thawing were observed in groups containing 60 µM. By increasing the rosiglitazone level to 80 µM, no positive effect was observed in most of the evaluated parameters. The lowest ROS concentration was recorded in 60 µM rosiglitazone group (P < 0.05). The group containing 60 µM rosiglitazone also produced the lowest significant percentage of apoptosis-like changes and dead sperm. A greater (P < 0.05) percentage of acrosome integrity in frozen-thawed spermatozoa was observed in the 60 µM rosiglitazone group. There was no significant difference between 40 and 60 µM rosiglitazone in intact acrosome of ram thawed semen. The result showed that supplementation in ram semen extender with rosiglitazone had a positive role in the regulation of ram sperm motility and had strong protective effect on the sperm membrane and acrosome integrity.

Effect of tempol and straw size on rooster sperm quality and fertility after post-thawing.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of tempol and straw size on rooster sperm post-thaw quality and fertility. Rooster semen was cryopreserved in Lake extender containing 0 (control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 µM tempol (in two different straw size, 0.25 and 0.5). The percentage of total and progressive sperm motility, VAP and VSL increased in the 10 µM tempol group. Moreover, 10 µM tempol led to lower ROS compared to other groups. The lowest percentage of apoptotic-like changes was detected when the extender was treated with 10 µM of tempol. The minimum ROS was observed in the group treated with 0.5 straw size. Straw size did not have any significantly effect on GPx and SOD activities and TAC of frozen-thawed sperm. The highest significant percentage of fertility and hatching rate were observed in 10 µM of tempol. The results of the present study showed that supplementation of the Lake cryopreservation medium with 10 µM tempol improved cryo-survival. Also, the results of the present study suggested that Lake cryopreservation medium with 0.5-ml straw may perhaps be an appropriate method to improve the quality and fertility post-thawed rooster sperm.

Effects of wet feeding and early feed restriction on blood parameters and growth performance of broiler chickens.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of early feed restriction (FR) with wet feeding on size of small intestine, blood lipids and performance parameters in broilers from d 1 to 42. A total of 160 one-day-old male broiler chickens were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with 4 pens per treatment and 10 chickens per pen, in a fully randomized 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, two feeding arrangement; providing feed ad libitum (Full Fed) or FR by 50% between days 6 to 12, and feed in either wet or dry form (wet form, 1.2 g water per 1 g dry feed). Body weight and feed intake of broiler chickens were determined at d 0, 21, and 42, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated. At d 42, two birds per replicate were euthanised for determination of carcass weight, organ weight and length, and also for blood parameters, which included high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), total cholesterol and triglycerides (TG). The broilers fed wet form irrespective of FR throughout had superior body weight gain and carcass weight compared with birds fed dry diets at d 22 and 42 (P < 0.05). The wet form with FR significantly showed lower FCR compared with the wet form and ad libitum at d 1 to 21 (P < 0.05). The broilers fed wet form had significantly increased HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol and decreased TG (P < 0.05). In conclusion, wet form can improve performance growth and blood parameters, and the FR birds were able to attain normal market body weight at d 42, which suggests that growth compensation occurred.