In vitro and in vivo effect of oxytetracycline on sperm parameters in breeding rooster.

BACKGROUND: Some antimicrobials could adversely affect sperm quality during sperm cryopreservation and antibiotic treatment with subsequent effects on fertility outputs. To our knowledge, no similar studies have been conducted on breeding roosters, especially for oxytetracycline (OTC). OBJECTIVE: To investigate both in vitro and in vivo impact of oxytetracycline on sperm parameters in breeding roosters. METHODS: Sperm motility parameters were objectively analyzed using the CASA system including total motility (TM %), progressive motility (PM %), all sperm velocities, the sperm count, and cell viability during 9 days of in vivo treatment. In the in vitro investigation, the pooled sperm was diluted and divided into a control aliquot (diluted in 0.9% NaCl) and treated samples. Motility parameters were assessed after 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 hours of storage at 37ºC. In the in vivo study, 1 g per L of OTC was administrated to five individuals for nine consecutive days. Fresh semen samples were analyzed at T0 (before treatment) and after 6 (T6) and 9 days (T9) of treatment. RESULTS: OTC caused significant impairment of sperm quality in vivo. A drastic reduction in sperm concentration, viability, TM, PM, and all kinematic parameters was observed after 6 days of treatment. However, at day 9 sperm quality had improved to be nearly similar to T0. In vitro, OTC induced similar sperm impairment on all sperm motility parameters. CONCLUSION: Oxytetracycline exhibited negative effects on rooster sperm both in vivo and in vitro and appears consequently not suitable in cryopreservation extenders. Doi.org/10.54680/fr23510110412.

Effect of the essential oil of Rosmarinus officinalis (L.) on rooster sperm motility during 4°C short-term storage.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of Rosmarinus officinalis (L.) essential oil on rooster sperm motility during 4°C short-term storage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: R. officinalis essential oil was analyzed using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry to identify the active components. 10 of 45-week-old Hubbard commercial broilers were subjected to biweekly semen collections during 3 weeks. At each collection, sperm was pooled and divided into four aliquots and then diluted with Tris extender supplemented with 870, 87, or 8.7 µg/ml of R. officinalis essential oil, identified as treatments R, R5, and R10, respectively. Tris-based extender without any supplementation was considered as a control group. Diluted sperm was then stored at 4°C in the refrigerator and analyzed at 0, 6, 24, and 48 h using a computer-assisted sperm analyzer. Different semen parameters were measured including total motility, progressive motility, gametes velocities (straight line velocity [VSL], curvilinear velocity [VCL], and average path velocity [VAP]), amplitude of the lateral head displacement [ALH], and beat-cross frequency [BCF]. RESULTS: The phytochemical analysis of R. officinalis essential oil revealed the presence of 25 active components including seven major molecules: Camphor (18.88%), camphene (5.17%), 1,8-cineole (7.85%), ß-thujene (13.66%), α-thujene (4.87%), chrysanthenone (12.05%), and ß-cubenene (7.97%). The results showed a beneficial effect of R. officinalis essential oil on sperm cells motility, particularly when using the lowest concentrations, 8.7 and 87 µg/ml. Progressive motility and gametes velocities (VCL, VSL, and VAP), materializing the quality of gametes motility, showed highly statistically significant values (p<0.01) in 8.7 and 87 µg/ml treatments, especially from 6 h of storage at 4°C. Conversely, the highest concentration (870 µg/ml) showed harmful effects with a total spermicidal activity after 24 h of storage. CONCLUSION: The current results revealed the positive impact of R. officinalis essential oil on rooster sperm at 4°C short-term storage probably through fighting against oxidative stress and cold shock damages.