The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the addition of antioxidants (vitamin E, β- mercaptoethanol and their combination) to semen extender.  Progressive motility, viability and pH of fresh ram semen were examined. Ejaculate samples were collected with artificial vagina from three Ghezel-Merinose rams (3 years old) during non- breeding reproduction season. Semen was diluted with a...

Background Egg yolk is the main cryoprotectant agent in semen freezing extenders which is used in order to protect spermatozoa against cold shock. However elimination of animal bioproducts from the cryopreservation protocol is becoming mandatory. Therefore the aim of this study is to compare a previously studied homemade soya bean lecithin based extender with a commercially available extender f...

Semen collection evaluation and addition of preservatives to increase storage period of sperm are essential for successful artificial insemination. This study was conducted on 4rams (2 Ghezel Merinos and 2 Merinos Moghani) to evaluate the effect of two diluents in Khalatposhan research station. Average age of rams was 3 years. Rams were trained to serve the artificial insemination and semen sam...

The testis is an organ of lipid synthesis and catabolism. The testicular duct system is important for transportation, maturation and storage of sperms. The glands of the ampulla provide the first notable carbohydrate substrate to the semen (Pineda and Faulkner, 1980). The present work was undertaken to observe the histochemistry of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids during postnatal histologica...

Whole semen can be stored successfully under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, owing to the presence of glycolysable carbohydrate in the seminal plasma. However, if mammalian spermatozoa are separated from the seminal plasma by centrifuging and washing, they can maintain their motility only in the presence of oxygen. From this it has been inferred that when spermatozoa are deprived of fruc...

Background: Researchers have indicated that mammalian spermatozoa are characterized by a high proportion of saturated, n-6 and n-3 series of fatty acids (FA). Major FA in rams’ sperm consists of C16, C18:1 and C22:6 (DHA). Little information exists on the effective use of saturated and unsaturated FA for ram whereas lipids have important role in sperm fertility. Our Background was to determine ...

The present study was conducted to detect sperm apoptosis in fresh, capacitated and frozen ram semen and to determine its relationship with other seminal parameters as motility and viability. The cryopreservation process induces the plasma membrane disruptions, attended with increasing of phoshpatidylserine molecules expression on the extracellular surface, wherefore some of the live spermatozo...

Background: Artificial insemination is a valuable tool in genetic improvement programs and widely used breeding technique in farm animals. Semen processing and cryopreservation causes considerable damage to sperm DNA, motility apparatus, plasma membrane, acrosomal cap and thus, reduced fertility. Selenium is an integral part of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), an enzyme which protects cell inte...