Developing a Predictive Tool for Reactive Oxygen Species Damage During Bovine Sperm Storage at Ambient Temperature

Preservation of sperm at ambient storage temperature (25°C) provides a simplified alternative for short-term storage applications. The goals of the study were (i) to improve the storage ability of bovine sperm in liquid suspension by scavenging the reactive oxygen species (ROS) with the help of antioxidants and chelators, (ii) to develop a predictive tool to determine sperm motility as a function of storage temperature. Two types of antioxidants (catalase and superoxide dismutase, SOD) and 2 chelators (Desferal and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA) were used. Different concentrations of the supplements were added in egg yolk Tris (EYT) extender and stored at 4°C, room temperature (25°C), and 37°C, respectively. Motility and membrane integrity (MI) were assessed on days 1, 4, 7, 10, and 14 for samples stored at 4°C and 25°C. Results did not suggest the beneficial effect of SOD and EDTA. Catalase caused a slight improvement in motility at 4°C storage and its effectiveness was found to increase at highe...