Abstract

Antioxidants may ameliorate the effects of the freeze-thawing stress on cryopreserved spermatozoa. Lycopene is an effective antioxidant yet to be tested for rooster sperm cryopreservation and nanoliposomes, a technology recently applied to sperm cryopreservation, could improve conservation and antioxidant delivery to spermatozoa. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mM lycopene and lycopene-loaded nanoliposomes (LnL) on the cryopreservation of rooster sperm in Beltsville extender. Post-thawing evaluation included sperm motility, membrane integrity, abnormal morphology, mitochondria activity, apoptotic status, malondialdehyde (MDA) and antioxidant activities: Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Total and progressive motility, membrane integrity and mitochondria activity were higher with 0.2 mM lycopene and LnL (P < 0.05), compared to 0.1 and 0.3 mM (lycopene and LnL) and the control group. The 0.2 mM lycopene and LnL showed a lower percentage of apoptotic sperm and increased GPx activity and TAC when compared with the other treatments, and reduced MDA levels when compared to 0.3 mM (lycopene and LnL) and control. Supplementation did not significantly affect activities of SOD or the proportion of abnormal spermatozoa. A fertility trial showed that 0.2 mM lycopene increased the proportion of fertile and hatched eggs in comparison to the control, especially when using nanoliposomes. Therefore, the supplementation of the Beltsville extender with 0.2 mM lycopene could improve the quality of rooster spermatozoa after freeze-thawing, and the combination with nanoliposomes seems promising in order to improve the performance of existing approaches.