Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(1), 131-137 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866010131

The in Vitro Effect of Taurine on Boar Spermatozoa Quality

Dušan Paál1, František Strejček1, Eva Tvrdá2, Grzegorz Formicki3, Sabine Klein4, Detlef Rath4, Peter Massanyi2,3
1 Department of Botany and Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 1, 949 74 Nitra, Slovak Republic
2 Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovak Republic
3 Department of Animal Physiology and Toxicology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Geography and Biology, Pedagogical University of Krakow, Podbrzezie 3, 33-332 Krakow, Poland
4 Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute of Animal Health, Höltystrasse 10, 31535 Neustadt, Germany

The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effects of taurine (TAU) supplementation on boar spermatozoa motility, viability, acrosome integrity and morphology. Eighteen boar semen samples were diluted with the Androhep PlusTM extender containing no TAU (control) or supplemented with 1.5 mM, 7 mM, 12.5 mM TAU and cultured at 4 °C for 18 days. Sperm motility was evaluated using the computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) system. Furthermore, the samples were fixed and assessed for the occurrence of morphological abnormalities using phase contrast microscopy. Fluorescent dyes SYBR-14 and propidium iodide were used to determine the sperm viability. Acrosome integrity was examined using PNA-Alexa Fluor 647 and flow cytometry. A gradual decrease of the semen quality was detected in all experimental groups over the course of the study. CASA revealed no selective advantage of TAU supplementation on the spermatozoa motility (p > 0.05). TAU administration showed to be ineffective in preserving spermatozoa viability as well as acrosome integrity as measured by flow cytometry (p > 0.05). Under the conditions of this study, no significant positive effect of TAU was recorded following its administration to the Androhep PlusTM boar semen extender with respect to spermatozoa quality.

Keywords: taurine, boars, spermatozoa, Androhep PlusTM, motility, viability, acrosome integrity, morphology
Grants and funding:

This work was funded by projects VEGA 1/0327/16, VEGA 1/0022/15, APVV-14-0001, APVV-15-0544, APVV-16-0289, UGA VIII/21/2015 and AgroBioTech Research Centre built in accordance with the project Building "AgroBioTech" Research Centre ITMS 26220220180.

Prepublished online: February 28, 2018; Published: September 1, 2018  Show citation

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Paál, D., Strejček, F., Tvrdá, E., Formicki, G., Klein, S., Rath, D., & Massanyi, P. (2018). The in Vitro Effect of Taurine on Boar Spermatozoa Quality. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 66(1), 131-137. doi: 10.11118/actaun201866010131
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