Impact of the Spirulina maxima extract addition to semen extender on bovine sperm quality

Figures & data

Table 1. CASA-obtained mean values of motility parameters from frozen-thawed bovine semen with or without the addition of SME.

Item	Control	SME 2 µg/mL	SME 4 µg/mL	SME 6 µg/mL	SME 8 µg/mL
Motility (%)	49.36^b ± 1.96	52.04^b ± 0.57	61.23^a ± 2.90	49.03^b ± 3.12	39.22^c ± 0.47
Progressive motility (%)	38.11^c ± 1.96	41.47^b ± 0.44	50.01^a ± 2.66	42.99^b ± 2.51	37.85^c ± 0.97
VCL (µm/s)	57.47^b ± 1.21	58.07^b± 0.98	63.19^a ± 0.61	52.70^c ± 1.52	27.99^d ± 1.08
VSL (µm/s)	31.55^c ± 0.99	33.73^bc ± 0.76	44.01^a ± 0.44	35.84^b ± 3.44	10.98^d ± 2.98
VAP (µm/s)	37.22^c ± 1.00	42.58^b ± 4.24	51.02^a ± 3.99	37.11^c ± 4.07	16.34^d ± 4.49
LIN (%)	50.11^b ± 0.91	51.57^b ± 1.49	63.44^a ± 0.66	54.93^b ± 3.03	44.91^c ± 4.09
STR (%)	82.79^b ± 0.71	82.82^b ± 1.91	85.44^a ± 0.47	82.98^b ± 2.02	79.12^c ± 2.24
WOB (%)	74.37^b ± 1.9	75.61^b ± 1.46	82.31^a ± 1.89	80.02^a ± 2.02	71.85^c ± 3.95
ALH (µm)	2.89^a ± 0.05	2.81^a ± 0.12	2.96^a ± 0.04	2.80^a ± 0.10	2.51^b ± 0.09

SME: Spirulina maxima extract; VCL: Curvilinear Velocity; VSL: Straight Line Velocity; VAP: Average Path Velocity; LIN : Linearity; STR: Straightness; WOB: Wobble; ALH: Amplitude of Lateral Head Displacement. Values are mean ± S.D. of motility parameters from the CASA dataset of thawing bovine spermatozoa in different treatments. Values in the same row with different letters mean statistically significant difference (p < .05) (n = 20).

Table 2. Flow cytometry – obtained mean values of the DCFH, DNA integrity and viability from frozen-thawed bovine semen samples in the presence and the absence of SME.

Item	Control	SME 2 µg/mL	SME 4 µg/mL	SME 6 µg/mL	SME 8 µg/mL
Viability (%)	44.02^b ± 0.091	48.03^a ± 0.046	49.17^a ± 0.022	44.45^b ± 0.051	44.14^b ± 0.032
DNA integrity (%)	87.21^b ± 0.018	94.00^a ± 0.015	93.76^a ± 0.024	92.57^a ± 0.020	91.01^ab ± 0.031
DCFH	27.11^a ± 1.37	22.64^b ± 0.66	20.20^b ± 0.70	20.39^b ± 0.73	29.75^a ± 2.11

SME: Spirulina maxima extract; DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid; DCFH: Dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein. Values are mean ± S.D. of thawed bovine spermatozoa in all the concentration of SME. Values in the same row with different letters mean significantly different (p < .05) (n = 20).

Figure 1 Randomly selected charts obtained using a flow cytometer from frozen-thawed bovine semen; chart (a) semen without the addition of SME_, chart (b) semen containing 4 µg/mL of SME. SME: Spirulina maxima extract.