Effect of caspase inhibitor Z‐VAD‐FMK on bovine sperm cryotolerance. Issue 4 (17th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pagano, Nunzia; Longobardi, Valentina; De Canditiis, Carolina; Zuchegna, Candida; Romano, Antonella; Michal Andrzej, Kosior; Pero, Maria Elena; Gasparrini, Bianca
• Is Part Of: Reproduction in domestic animals. Volume 55:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 530
• Page End: 536
• Publication Date: 2020-02-17
• Subjects: apoptosis -- bovine semen -- caspase inhibitor; Animal breeding -- Periodicals; Veterinary pathology -- Periodicals; Livestock -- Breeding -- Periodicals; 636.082
• DOI: 10.1111/rda.13648
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0936-6768

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment of bovine semen with the pan‐caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl‐Val‐Ala‐Asp‐fluoromethyl ketone (Z‐VAD‐FMK), before or after freezing on semen quality. After the initial assessment, sperm from 4 bulls were pooled (Experiment 1) and cryopreserved in BioXcell containing 0, 20 and 100 μM Z‐VAD‐FMK. After thawing semen viability, motility, membrane integrity, as well as DNA fragmentation and ΔΨm were evaluated. In Experiment 2, bovine frozen/thawed sperm were incubated for 1 hr with 0, 20 and 100 µM Z‐VAD‐FMK before assessing the semen quality. The treatment with Z ‐VAD‐FMK before cryopreservation improved post‐thawing sperm motility compared to the control group ( p < .05), while no differences were recorded in sperm viability and membrane integrity among groups (on average 86.8 ± 1.5 and 69.1 ± 1.4, respectively). Interestingly, at the highest concentration, DNA fragmentation decreased ( p < .05), while the percentage of spermatozoa with high ΔΨm increased ( p < .05). The results of Experiment 2 showed that 1‐hr treatment with Z‐VAD‐FMK did not affect sperm motility and viability (on average 63.4 ± 5.8 and 83.7.1 ± 1.2, respectively). However, Z‐VAD‐FMK improved sperm membrane integrity ( p < .05) and at the highest concentration tested decreased the proportion of sperm showing DNA fragmentation ( p < .05). No differences were recorded in the percentage of spermatozoa with high ΔΨm (on average 57.0 ± 11.4). In conclusion, the treatment with 100 µM of the caspase inhibitor Z‐VAD‐FMK before freezing increased bovine sperm mass motility and ΔΨm, while decreasing sperm DNA fragmentation. Treatment of semen after thawing with 100 µM Z‐VAD‐FMK improved sperm membrane integrity and reduced DNA fragmentation.